Wounded Knee On the Ben!

Yesterday we climbed the biggest hill in these parts... Ben Rinnes (840 m or 2752 ft).

Looking down at Roy's Hill, Meikle Conval and little Conval.

Roy's Hill in the foreground, which leads on to Ben Rinnes proper.

Snow... knee-deep and worse.

The top of the hill looking at the trig point, cold, windy, and weather about to take a turn for the worse. We just made it back to the car before heavy rain hit. I twisted my knee on the way down, and I had a wedding dance to go to in the evening. No dancing for me I'm afraid. Mind you, that was yesterday, and it's much better today.

Eye Eye!

Sorry I missed posting again yesterday, but I'm up to my eyeballs at the moment! What's more, I've also got something in my eye, which has been annoying me for the past few hours. We used to have an eye-bath, which was extremely handy, but of course it has dissolved into the fabric of the building as so many things tend to.

I'm actually very depressed right now. My futile attempts to find and purchase a car haven't really got off of the ground. I have to be able to time to coincide; having someone else who can drive to come with me just in case, going to see the car before someone buys it and staying within my piffling budget. It's not going well, I've already missed out on a couple cars, I guess because, cheap cars sell quickly. It's very annoying. I don't want to get desperate and buy a pile of crap, but time is running out. I think I have till about Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh Bollards!

Did I get any work done today? Yes I did, although the weather was so fine that I really wanted to go out and do some hill-walking. But I had to stay in and wait for the new cooker to be delivered, which it was around 11am, although I had expected the delivery guys to wire it in, because when we bought it there was a sign which said "Free delivery and recycling". We thought that they'd wire up the new cooker and take away the old one for recycling. I have since realised that it was probably the packaging which was to be recycled. Dammit!

So, after the cooker had been delivered I had to wire it, and the connections on the back were very different to the old cooker. In the end I spent about 2 hours on it. What a pain! And so the whole day was pretty much wasted again, although I made a start on my assessment, which was my intention. I also managed to play a game or two, upload some photos to Imageshack and generally waste an entire day... again!

Tomorrow is the last day of Uni for a fortnight, yay! I plan on some major hill-wlaking this next two weeks, only I need to buy a new (to me) second-hand car, because my present one is clapped-out. Then there's this assessment, with which I must discipline myself and do some work on it everyday. Otherwise it will never be done, and it has to be submitted when we go back. I always feel like I'm juggling crap like this, and trying to fit in some quality "me" time just gets harder and harder!

I'll Work Tomorrow!

Haven't done much today, and I had such great intentions as well. I was going to get stuck right in to this assessment I have, but then I got a phone call from the school saying my daughter was ill, and to come and collect her. As a result of which, she demanded my attention for most of the day, and hence, nothing done! Well, I did do a little bit, but it was almost a token gesture to myself, which is effectively pointless, because I'm aware of what I'm doing (?).

Ah well, I'll have the whole day to work tomorrow, if I can just make a start, I'll get plenty done I'm sure. There's no great rush really, but this assessment is of such a nature, that it requires a fair bit of thought, and I'm not really in the mood for thinking. I do however perceive, that at this level, you really have to push yourself on and get things done, because there is very little external pressure, such as you might feel exerted at lower levels in the education system. I have always been able to force myself to get the job done, even when it's very tedious, because I realise that it's important not to leave anything to chance.

I know that others have found this course virtually impossible and others who like me have made it this far, are having grave doubts as to whether they really want to do this. I don't have any such doubts, I'm committed and have long-term goals form which I will not be deterred. Just like the rest, I've had my glimpses at the darker side, but I have an inate ability to bounce back very quickly, where others perhaps tend to dwell. You have to have a thick skin, that much is plain, and you have to be able to rise above it. I think I can do that!

Roll Your Yellow Crystals!

I'm sorry I never posted yesterday, events conspired once again to prevent me, but at least I found a news item worthy of you for today! I happened to come across an article translated from Russian, which even if it's not true, is worthy of attention. If it is true, then it's one of the most important finds ever!

The basic premise of the article, is that the massive explosion at Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, which had nearby residents petrified, and flattened massive tracts of forest, was actually the result of alien intervention. Yes, it sounds crazy, but the explosion itself was hardly normal, and has often been purported to have been the first ever nuclear explosion. Impossible? If you believe that everything you read is true, then it must be.

However, in recent years a Siberian scientist undertook a lengthy investigation of the "crash site", and found 10 strange yellow crystals in a river bank. The scientist has since declared that such crystals could not form on Earth, and must therefore have came down with the meteor which flattened Tunguska. So far, all very plausible, but the scientist then goes on further to claim that the crystals are etched with drawings of alien origin, which he claims were part of a navigational unit for a spaceship. In test conditions the lab were unnable to make similar etchings on the crystals, as it was too hard to scratch. The crystals all have similar holes through them which he supposes allowed them to be linked together.

The whole theory therefore reads thus. A 1 billion ton meterorite was on a collision course with Earth and would have wiped out humanity, but aliens crashed their spaceship into the meteorite before it could impact, thus saving the human race. Whatever the truth, something very odd happened at Tunguska, and eye-witnesses reported seeing some very strange things at the time. Anyway, since this is Easter Monday, I thought I'd report back that there were others who died to save humanity besides the most well known. Perhaps we should roll yellow crystals on this day!

Cooking Up A Storm!

Had to buy a new cooker today, the oven in the old one has been gone for around 3 weeks, and the lack of variety at meal-times was really starting to get to me. There's probably very little wrong with the cooker we have, but the cost of actually having someone just look at it, is more than it's worth probably, so that's why I plumped for a new one. Nothing special, it's a cooker, as long as it cooks, it'll be doing the job for which it's intended. I need lasagane, that's the main issue here, no lasagne for 3 weeks, it's beyond the limits of human endurance!

I'm also looking for a new car. Did I say new car? I meant an old car that's just like new, but at an affordable price, and preferably with low mileage. That's asking a lot isn't it? Well, if you don't ask, you don't get, that's my motto, and it has proven true many a time. When I sort out that problem , I also have a dodgy washing-machine and a knackered hoover needing replacing. Those will have to wait however, as I'm struggling heavily in a financial sense, as I approach the end of 4 years studying, with next to nothing income. Yes, somehow we seem able to save, even when earning nothing. That seems to astound people looking in, who I'm sure suspect that someone must be giving us cash. They're not, we're just good at not being frivolous. What that will mean when I do start making some money, I'm not sure. We'll either be very comfortable, or else won't be able to stop spending insanely.

No hill-walking this weekend bacause blizzard conditions are anticpated, but I do intend to make up for it in a week's time, I have a few expeditions lined up, weather permitting as usual of course. I might have to acquire a few accoutrements first, don't have a compass for starters. I do have maps, and I use streetmap.co.uk quite a lot as well. Anyway, we'll see what happens, the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that...

Time To Evolve!

It's cold here today, and very windy too, gale-force even. Not that you're interested, or would even stop to wonder "Where is here?" I don't mind that you don't care, it's the way of the World. Even if I posted something about terrible atrocities happening, it's still highly likely that you wouldn't care, in fact you'd probably navigate away as quickly as possible. You see terrible things on the televison all the time, and you have become numbed by it. You just can't visualise yourself in the position of the victims of crime and violence.

I say that it's because you're a materialist. Don't deny it? You have loads of stuff you couldn't bear to do without. Yet, for every possession you become insecurely attached too, you lose another piece of your soul. That's my realisation, and if you consider it you too will realise that I'm right! I've thought about the ways in which society has changed, from the times when people trusted each other, left their house doors open, helped their neighbours and friends in a crisis, took an interest in the problems or successes of others. That's all gone. People only care about themselves now. Their nearest and dearest, that's all. The trust is gone, replaced by fear. The caring is gone, replaced by greed, and concern for the affairs of others, has been replaced by a selfish drive to keep up withe the Joneses.

I have seen these things, and I think that mankind has regressed because of it. I really think that it's knocked evolution back a thousand years. How can I say such a thing when we have all these new technologies and science is making tremendous break-throughs. I say so, because humanity can't possibly evolve unless everyone shares common goals. Because we only have individual goals, most of which are misplaced ideals anyway, we're far more likely to destroy ourselves before we ever get a chance to take the next big evolutionary leap, the kind that will allow us to find eternal peace for the human race!

The Ruin Of Man!

That's me finished another school placement, 3 out of 4, and the pressure's off for the most part. Becoming a teacher is now a formality, barring some sort of biblical disaster. So, it's back to Uni on Monday again, not too much more of that to go either, thank goodness. 4 years in full-time education, just to spend the rest of my natural stuck in education. With the one proviso, that in future, I get paid for it. I do have a small fortune in loans to pay back, which doesn't really seem fair, you'd think they'd be grateful for people entering a profession where you're to blame for every little thing that goes wrong. There is a blame culture in education at the moment, and the teacher's must be to blame, because it's just not fair to blame the real culprits. Who are the real culprits? I'll leave that for you to decide!

Sorry, that this is short, but I think I'm going to have a little drink to celebrate my making it through another round of testing times. I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Let Me Through!

Why is it that whenever I have free time, the weather turns bad, and as soon as my free time is up, it becomes beautiful once again? And, it's not just the holiday times either, quite often it's beautiful here all week long, then come the weekend, wind and rain. I'm not usually one to moan about the weather, but all I want is a few days out on the hills over the next 3 weeks, and if the weather's rotten for that whole time, then both you and I will know that the big man's got it in for me!

I'm trying to join a forum for hillwalkers, not really because I want to feel as though I'm part of something, but mainly just to help me plan out routes up hills, because on more than one occasion recently, my navigational skills have been called into question, in fact 3 times if I'm going to be open about it. On all 3 occasions I was vindicated, by finding the correct path, but that's not the point. The point is, that many of the hills I intend to climb, don't really have what you might call paths, per se. What I need is information form the horse's mouth so to speak, as to the best route to take, in such circumsatances.

I actually would like to hit a couple of Corbetts this Easter break, gearing up to do some Munros, later in the year, probably at Summertime, because I'm a fair weather man to be honest, and Highland conditions can get really bad, particularly on high ground, and at any time of year, but in Winter and even Springtime people die out there. Ben Rinnes is my number one target this Easter, I don't know how many times I've seen that hill in the passing and never been up it. Well, all that's going to change!

Steer Well Clear!

I came across this picture in my travels. It was taken by someone with whom I'm acquainted, in a professional sense. As usual, I'm not giving away too much, because I always try to protect the innocent (and myself). Honestly, I just thought it was a nice picture of some deer playing near the lochside. You don't often see any photos of deer with water in the background, more often trees or mountain-side, so this photo seems unusual in that sense. These seemingly harmless creatures can leave a fairly nasty dent in your car, and I heard a story recently of someone who swerved to avoid hitting one, and ended up writing-off his car in the doing so, and the Insurance refused to pay up. They said that he should have hit it! Very odd position to adopt, I would say, what if it had been a child? What if there wasn't time to tell the difference?

That's all for today, I'm a very busy man!