Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Toasty's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Monday, October 5th, 2009
10:22 pm	A Long time Since I've written anything in here. Either privately or publicly, and I haven't much time to write anything now. I see the last Eddington number I posted was 13, well it hasn't moved much since then (July 2009), it's now 15. It must be said I haven't been out much at all on the bicycle this summer, though the few days I have out in the sunshine have been great. Hope there's still a few good days left before we sink into long dark nights and extremely short days. S.A.D. Current Music: Peace of Mind - Boston (tap a barrel)
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
8:58 pm	Lakes n not so many pints: Just been for a long weekend camping with John to Wasdale. All started off well and we pitched on dry ground with scattered cloud above. This was the Thursday evening, so we had something to eat and then when to the pub for a pint. On this occasion we drove to Gosforth so John could watch Leeds playing football on the tele. Friday came with a change in the weather, rain never is very far away when you're in Wasdale. It was only light to start with so we went on a walk down the valley and up Piers Gill. Then left around Broad Crag and on to Great End before veering off to Esk Hause. Another couple of lefts past Sprinkling Tarn and Sty Head, then back down in to Wasdale. Stopping at the Wasdale Head Inn for a pint on the way back to camp. Saturday dawned with more rain. After some breakfast John decided he was going to climb Great Gable. I didn't fancy that so I went over Eskdale Fell to the Woolpack in Boot, had a pint from the onsite Hardknott Brewery. Very nice too. Then I walked back from the Boot Inn. I had to use my paper map and compass for this trip as John had gone off with the car keys, and my satnav was charging in the car. Map and compass - so twentieth century. After a shower and some tea I gave John a call to see if he wanted to go for a pint, but there was only the sound of snoring coming from his tent. Sunday arrived with more showers. I had some breakfast, cleaned up around the tent and had a stroll around the campsite, in between the showers. John was still in the land of nod, so I gave him a call. After he'd come around we decided to have a crack at John's version of the Mosedale horseshoe. This started by going down Wasdale and then in to Mosedale, a gentle enough start. Then it up Dorehead Scree, this took quite a while to complete even though it was dry. We stopped at the top, Dorehead, to eat lunch. It started to rain quite heavily at this point, so it was on with the waterproofs. These were to stay on for the remainder of the day. We headed towards Red Pike, then on to Little Scoat Fell, avoiding Steeple and going straight on to Pillar. Due to the adverse whether which included hail, ow! Then to Looking Stead before heading back down the valley via Black Sail Pass. Finally back to camp for a shower, this time a hot one, and some tea. It was late by this time, but not too late for a quick pint (21:30) but there was already snoring emanating from John's tent. Drove back on Monday (tap a barrel)
Monday, April 27th, 2009
1:08 pm	Club Walk Sunday was the walking clubs trip to Chaple-en-le-Frith in the Peak District. A mixture of cloud and sunshine with a cold wind, but a least the rain stayed away. Our group were dropped off south of Buxton, picking up the Limestone Way northwards then leaving it at Peak Forest and looping around to arrive in Chaple-en-le-Frith in time for a pint before the coach left for home. We covered 13 Miles in total according to my GPS (tap a barrel)
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
6:15 pm	Bicycle: Road - 44.05 miles 03:53:36 11.3 avg 22.2 max (2,184 calories) (Eddington No. 11) Great Coates - Healing - Stallingborough - Immingham - Killingholme - East Halton - Goxhill - Barrow - Barton-upon-Humber - Barrow - Thornton Curtis - Wootton - Ulceby - Immingham - Stallingborough - Healing - Great Coates (tap a barrel)
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
4:44 pm	Bicycle: Road - 17.7 miles 01:46:02 10.0 avg 25.2 max (GPS) Great Coates - Pyewipe - Immingham Stallingborough - Healing - Great Coates (tap a barrel)
Monday, April 13th, 2009
1:27 pm	Bicycle: Road - 9.8 miles 00:58:16 10.1 avg 21.5 max (GPS) Cleethorpes (saddle adjustment exercise) (tap a barrel)
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
11:24 pm	Bicycle: Road - 41 miles 05:17:54 7.73 avg 39.5 max (GPS) This brings My Eddington Number to 10 Bradley - Barnoldby-le-Beck - Beelsby - Thoresway - Walesby - Market Rasen - Walesby - Thoresway - Rothwell - Cuxwold - Swallow - Beelsby - Barnoldby-le-Beck - Bradley (tap a barrel)
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
5:34 pm	Six Nations England 21 - 12 Scotland Current Mood: cheerful (tap a barrel)
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
10:25 am	lakes n pints Just back from a long weekend break camping in The Lake District. Saturday night was very windy, I wasn't sure the large tent I took was going to stand up to the punishment. It was still standing Sunday morning though, three of the fiberglass sections that make up the poles had spilt. Bandaged with a little tape they survived the rest of the holiday without a hitch. We had three good walks, getting back on Sunday in time to see England give France a thrashing in the six nations, excellent. The most amazing thing was five days in The Lakes and we didn't get rained on once. I didn't manage to retain the St. Patrick's Day Trophy, this years winner at the annual darts competition was John. (tap a barrel)
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
5:25 pm	Bicycle: Road - 31.9 miles 02:54:35 11.0 avg 22.5 max GPS Holton-le-Clay - Utterby - Covenham - Grainthorpe - Marshchaple - Tetney - Holton-le-Clay (tap a barrel)
Monday, March 9th, 2009
4:32 pm	signs of old age I found myself querying a road sign I thought was pretty self explanatory. Having read others comments in a newsgroup. Some others are of the opinion that the following sign is for cyclists only and not for pedestrians. They seem to think that cyclists are restricted to the left hand side of the line (OK so far), but it places no restrictions on the pedestrian who is free to wonder where they will. I disagree. In The Highway Code this is called a segregated feature and is delt with in rule 13. The clue is in the word segregated, of course a pedestrian is free to cross a cycle path, in the same way they are free to cross the road. But ordinarily they should keep to the right on such a facility. At least I think that's right. What does this sign mean? 1. cycles to the left only, pedestrians to the right only 2. cycles to the left only, pedestrians are unrestricted 3. something else how about this then? Current Mood: confused (tap a barrel)
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
1:32 pm	Happy Birthday Sandra (tap a barrel)
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
4:50 pm	Bicycle: Road - 16.1 miles 01:19:49 12.1 avg 31.8 max GPS (Eddington No. 9) Holton-le-Clay - Tetney - Humberstone Ave - Peaks Tunnel (tap a barrel)
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
7:28 pm	Six Nations Ireland 14 - 13 England Current Mood: grumpy (tap a barrel)
2:21 pm	Bicycle: Road - 9.71 miles 0:55:55 10.4 avg 20.2 max GPS (Eddington No. 8) The Willows - Aylesby Road - Laceby - Grange (tap a barrel)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
11:54 am	retrain - what's that? This morning I had my first job-search session as they call it, with a company called Intraining, under the New Deal arrangement. I was sent there by Jobcentre plus as I've now been unemployed for 18 months and I am apparently required to do this in order to carry on claiming any benefit. Last Monday I attended an induction at Intraining. All seemed very rosery and I was looking forward to my first job-search session proper with the expert guidance of the Intraining staff. So the time arrived, I walked in, signed in (twice, as you have to), stood there for a while looking lost, before going to find a member of staff and asking what I was expected to do and where to do it etc. you'd think they'd have somebody in place to greet the newcomers and point them in the right direction. I would never walk into somebody else's office, sit down at a desk and access the computer, or take files from the shelf and start looking though them without being invited to do so. The lady I approached pointed out the table with a lot of newspapers on it, the filing cabinet with print outs of the jobs filed in there various categories and the bank of computers connected to the Internet. I was then left to my own devices to go through the various media, which I did. I was also given a log to fill in, for jobs applied for. Seeing as I was unable to find any jobs to apply for, in the areas I wish to work. My log was empty. I approached the lady supervising the computers, explained my predicament and after a little discussion she also had a look through the relevant files. She too found nothing. I asked her about training (it's in the name of the company after all, Intraining) and she told me there was no training or money for courses to gain qualifications. She also said I needed to see my advisor. That's the person they assign to you, to help you find work. Trouble is my appointment (yes you have to make an appointment), isn't until 09 March 2009 I'd of thought it would be best if you see an advisor before you start, in order to make the most of there help and input, but I'll have completed two job-search sessions by the time I get to see her. There's nothing new here at all, what do these people think I've been doing for the past year or so? So what began as a day to start afresh with new vigor and vitality has ended up as a total disappointment Current Mood: pissed off (tap a barrel)
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
4:46 pm	Bicycle: Road - 22.9 miles 2:04:54 11.0 avg 29.3 max GPS (1,123cals) Bradley - Waltham - Barnolby-Le-Beck - Barton Street - Cottage Corner - Wold Newton - Click'em Inn - Gunnerby - Hatcliff - Barnolby-Le-Beck - Bradley (tap a barrel)
Saturday, February 21st, 2009
2:53 pm	Bicycle: Road - 30.5 miles 3:01:38 10.1 avg 42.2 max GPS (1,494cals) Scartho - Waltham - Brigsley - East Ravendale - Wold Newton - War Memorial - Limber Hill - Binbrook - Click'em Inn - Gunnerby - Hatcliff - Barnolby-Le-Beck - Bradley (tap a barrel)
Friday, February 20th, 2009
12:32 pm	Bicycle: Road - 10.40 miles 0:51:29 12.1 avg 27.9 max GPS Scartho - Toll Bar - New Waltham - Hewetts Circus (tap a barrel)
Monday, February 16th, 2009
10:20 am	Club Walk I went on the walk yesterday with the local walking club, to Langsett in The Peak District. The walk itself was hard going, not because of the steepness of terrain, rather the melting snow. This made for very slippery mud on a slopping uneven path, all hidden from view by varying depths of snow. Anything from a couple of inches to a couple of foot were encountered. Pushing a foot through the surface snow and into a stream of near freezing water was a constant hazard, and one I repeated more than once. Most if not all had wet feet by the end of the walk, I certainly did. I didn't take many photos due to low cloud and mist for the majority of the time. I also forgot to load the correct map into my pocket PC which has a handy GPS navigation system on it, providing you have the map for the area your in - Doh! We finished with a few pints in The Wagon & Horses, which was most welcome. Much easier walking on the return leg, and the mist lifted a little. Current Mood: contemplative (tap a barrel)