I finally got home about 2030 last night, complete with a pot of rather bright green paint and all the necessary bits to pain the bathroom a lovely bright Dulux Kiwi Burst 3. Unfortunately, the room needs a little work prior to putting the expensive paint on, so we stripped the border off and painted the blue bits with B&Q value white emulsion…needs another coat or two at least, so more painting tonight. I want to get the place sorted by the time Sean arrives. Not that I’m excited or anything, nooooo….*grin*
So after sorting a few bits out around the house, and saying hi to Damien, I called Sean. This was bizarre, despite having spent so much time talking to him, this was the first time I’d hear his voice. I thought, just quick 30m, then off to bed to get some much needed kip.
It started tentatively, both of us a little nervous, but it rapidly become comfortable and we were chatting like old friends. Two and a half hours later, it’s going on for 0200 and I’m still on the phone. Oops.
So he’s off shopping today for hiking stuff. His dad, who’s lived in Wales, asked why he couldn’t wear jeans on the mountain. Sean’s response was that a chap from Mountain Rescue had told him. “Oh. Ok then.” was the response. *grin*
On an aside, the reasoning behind the no-jeans rule is simple. It’s a hostile environment where the weather is volatile and you’re far from shelter. You need clothes that are light, keep you dry and warm and cofortable. Wet jeans are very cold, very heavy, very uncomfortable and take a long, long time to dry. I use a lot of Paramo stuff. The best tale about that stuff is that one of their MPC Personalised Polo Shirts was washed and grabbed en route to a callout. Hanging it out of the window between Cardiff and Abercynon (about 20 miles on a dual carriageway) was enough to dry it bone dry. Paramo kit will actually dry *on* you.
Anyway, uber-bouncy today, but loads of work, so I’m off.
On an aside, the reasoning behind the no-jeans rule is simple. It’s a hostile environment where the weather is volatile and you’re far from shelter. You need clothes that are light, keep you dry and warm and cofortable. Wet jeans are very cold, very heavy, very uncomfortable and take a long, long time to dry
Hrm… I could make a comment here, but I’m not going to. Really…
Probably best. Did you know I can apply group policy on a per-user basis? And did you know that insulting sysadmins does cause them to become utter, utter bastards?
*evil grin*
Not that I’d do anything like that. Ever. Not me. Nope. Nice friendly sysadmin, me.
Probably best. Did you know I can apply group policy on a per-user basis? And did you know that insulting sysadmins does cause them to become utter, utter bastards?
Moreso than normal, you mean? :p
Will, what about Grace. However is she going to cope.
I agree with the assessment on jeans, especially if they get wet (Some people say jeans are fine for skiing as long as you don’t FALL DOWN), but I was always taught that the most important thing was to have materials next to your skin that wick the moisture away (layers, all that). Sweat is a factor in hypothermia too.
and … Your mountains in Wales are very cute.
Absolutely. I’m a HUGE fan of the Paramo range of kit – it’s incredibly good at keeping you dry, which means you can keep warm/cool as you require without getting cold. Even if you get drenched[1], it dries out so fast it’s incredible.
*pout* Cute? Hrmpf. 😉
[1] The worst one I remember was last November 5th when it was raining so hard, that I had to keep blowing the water off my nose every few seconds because it was pouring down my face and stopping me from talking and breathing. There was a suggestion that the Coastguard would be better suited to the mountain on that night…
Oh, you’re so getting a slap… 😛
Yes, ‘cute’.
When my daughter & I were driving around Wales with Jon a couple of years ago she called the mountains, and the mountain passes, ‘cute’. We got the same reaction from Jon: “Hrmpf”. And all we could say is “you’ll understand when you get to Canada”.
When Jon arrived in Canada the first mountains he saw were the ones surrounding Howe Sound. He said “Oh, now I understand”, but Kate and I looked at him and said “Those? Those are just tiny mountains.” We took him to Whistler (slightly larger), then the interior (three mountain ranges in a day will do something to you), and then finally to the mighty Rockies.
My ‘mumsey_onroad’ avatar picture (the road with the mountains in the distance) is taken from a spot in the road in the foothills of the Rockies at an elevation of 1400 metres. (or, 1.4 Snowdons, as we called elevations. We could change that to 1 Ben Nevis if you like… ). The Rockies are still an hour drive away in that photo. It was taken in the middle of summer. Note the snowcapped peaks. (Jon will give you the link to his pictures from the trip, but really, you have to see the mountains in person. Shall I mark you down as our random Brit for the summer of 2007?)
So, yes. Cute.
I should add that I love Wales tremendously – it is a very beautiful part of the world – and has lots of things that we don’t have in Canada – like random castles. And little roads with stone walls that people drive down the wrong side. All of which was tremendous fun. (and sheep … can’t forget the sound of the sheep when we’d stop for random pictures of lakes and things …)
My grandfather, before emigrating to Canada, (departing from Cardiff), worked in a wool mill. Apparently this was about equivalent to living in a sod hut in the middle of the Canadian prairie, which is what he did for a few years (there being no trees in Saskatchewan). We still refer, in our family, to Wales as ‘the old country’, and of course it’s the people that really make the place.
So I apologise for any offense given by calling your mountains ‘cute’. (And tourists are probably stupid world over – I’m sure you’d have a good time comparing stories with North Shore rescue with people heading out into the wilds wearing flip flops and unprovisioned …)
[…] So the weekend has been spent doing pretty much nothing. A bit of food shopping and sorting out clothes happened yesterday – nothing exciting. Today however we’ve been hard at work. Remember how I posted about that lovely bright green I painted my bathroom? Well, those of you who know my house know just how bright that colour is. As a result, I’ve decided to finally get around to toning it down a bit so today Sean and I have been sanding the walls down ready for a repaint. It’ll need a few coats of white to bring it to a nice even colour and then I can try out some testers. Looking forward to this. […]