It turns out that my landline number used to be a customer support number for some pharmaceutical company.
I'm not usually home in the daytime so this isn't really an issue, but when I have been home I'd have the odd call
This morning's took the piss somewhat. Phone rings, I'm in bed snoozing so ignore it. Phone keeps ringing. Doesn't shut up. Still ringing. Fine, I will get up and answer it.
"hello, I have a few queries" "...um.." "this is blah blah pharmaceuticals?" "oh, no, it's not" "oh right, so who is this then?" "it's a private residence" "but the book says this is their number!!" "I think it used to be, but not any more" "can you put me through to them?" "er, no, I have no idea what their number is now" "oh, that's not very helpful" "...."
I wonder if my phone has a hang up or silence button like my mobile does, hmm...
Bit of a last minute plan, following a conversation the weekend before that went something like "Scotland next weekend?" "ooh, can I come?" "yeah, sure".
Wild camping around the Fort William area - near to rivers, obviously (yes, it was a kayaking trip).
We left Birmingham at stupid o'clock on Friday morning, and arrived at about half 2 I think. Went for a walk along the banks of the Etive, which had a lot of water in it. Randomly bumped into some people from Cheltenham canoe club while we were there. As a side note, walking through soggy peat bogs in trainers is not wise!
Following a trip to Morrisons, we set up camp somewhere in Glen Nevis - in a forest car park type thing, in fact the "Braveheart" car park. River on one side, huge mountains on the other... lovely!
Saturday morning we got up and ran the Lower Roy, then had a nice walk in the afternoon. Then back to Fort William to sit in a pub and wait for the rest of UBKC to turn up for their club trip. A few slightly confused faces, as I hadn't told anyone I was turning up. hehe Plans for Sunday were formed, and we eventually vanished off to find somewhere to camp. Ended up in a random layby in Glen Roy - with far too many rocks/bits of tree under the groundsheet. Oh well!
Easter Sunday involved a nice walk from Roybridge to Spean Bridge, whilst most others paddled. Eating chocolate eggs whilst standing on a big bridge, yum
Some amount of faffing later, we buggered off back to Glen Etive to set up camp by the river. Obviously a popular spot, as we had to go quite far down the road before we found a spot which didn't already have a tent on it. There were lots of deer around, which was very cool. I don't think I've seen wild deer before (oh, and the venison burger I ate on Friday was quite nice too...)
Monday morning's "ready to get on the river for 9am" didn't entirely happen, so rather than finishing for about midday, it was more like 2 when we got off the river and left (club are there till this weekend, but our little group all have jobs and things so had to be back). Me swimming probably slowed things down a bit too, oops. But nevermind that - the Etive is awesome! And very photogenic - which may or may not have been my main reason for going in the first place.. But photos/video will have to wait until everyone else gets back. mmm, huge waterfall...
The traffic on the way back was a bit slow, particularly around Loch Lomond. I eventually got home about 11, and am still quite tired two days later.
Also very achey, bruised and generally battered from the kayaking. All worth it
March can easily be summed up in one word: expensive.
As if buying a kayak wasn't bad enough, I've also been spending not insignficant amounts on things like deposits for holidays (French Alps in June, woo!), a shorty cag, car MOT, etc etc.
And when I popped into Halfords to get a bulb for the car, I managed to come out with a bike. Oops.
The bike does not have a name, and is a greeny colour, which this photo does not show very well.
Fitting it in my car was a right pain in the arse - first off, 'quick release' wheels is a lie when you have no idea what you're doing... Anyway, I've ridden it once - 3.7 miles around some bits of the Severn floodplain yesterday
The plan is to ride to work occasionally, thus saving me money on petrol (lots of short journeys is not doing my fuel consumption much good) and getting me fitter at the same time. That's a 4.5 mile trip, mostly flat, so should be quite doable. Unless it's raining, obviously...
I'm quite scared of my bank balance now, although today was payday so it shouldn't be too bad again. Until the credit card bill arrives, that is
tags: grr 
