Are we on the brink of a new ice age?

Do you really want to scare yourself?!

I do my bit for the environment, admittedly I could do more but I've got a fairly low carbon footprint anyway.

If I can I'll bike or walk to where I need to get.
My hobbies don't use any fuel or power (kites, hiking, biking)
Lights get turned off when I'm not in the room, as does any heating.
I'll buy organic or farm produced food when possible (no packaging)
I avoid unnecessary flights, it helps that I'm not that keen on flying anyway, but I'd still rather have a weekend away in one of the UK's wonderful cities than pop off to Paris etc.

So anyway I've far to much time on my hands since quiting my job and moving to Wales, so when the afternoons get cold after hiking or kiting I get to play on the internet (which would be even better if BT pulled their finger out and sorted my line out, but thats another story) and I've found these fantastic if not worryng sites.

Have a look and let me know your views on climate change.

Deaths births and Energy output of the world


Mega Disasters: Mega Freeze

Just a small exerpt from The World without us book by Alan Weisman

Big walk today!!! Tarren Hendre From Pennal

Good 4 and a half hour walk today, up Tarren Hendre (633) from Pennal. Tough in parts but with fab views and short enough that you can push it if you wanted.

We parked up in Pennal opposite the Riverside Pub near the church, don't ask me which church they must be big sinners in Pennal as for a small village there seems to be an awful lot of churches.

Then with the main road behind us we headed off down some narrow roads with the forestry to our right.

We continued over to the right and towards Pennal Isaf before climbing upwards to Mynydd Cefen Caer. Traversing to the right with the top of Mynydd to the right and the sharply dropping valley to the left, you can pick out the path on the other side that you need to follow up Tarren Hedrun.

You then follow a well defined path all the way round in a horse shoe shape until you start to climb again, this time all the way to the summit of Hendre. The path isnt great but its easy enough to follow as it runs along the side of a fence, you can also forget any form of sign posting from this point on.

About 15 mins in you come to a stile on the edge of a new bit of forest..ignore it! but do have a look at the fantastic view back across to Caider Idris (893) and the top of Tarren Gesail (667). Continue up the marshy path for 30min all the way to the top of Hendre. Here if your lucky you get awesome views back across to Borth and Barmouth, I wasn't it was getting very hazy and foggy on the top.



From here we started to wind our way along a flat summit back in the direction of Pennal, again forget any sign posts, just kind of vear diagonally across the top until you start to drop down towards 2 small hills. kind of do an S shape across the top of these and then continue dropping down to the right and onto a farm track.

Here it kind of goes a bit pear shaped as you now follow a private farm drive keeping your fingers x that the local farmer doesnt have an arse with you until you hit the small road that you started the walk on.

Keep an eye out on as you drop off the second of the 2 small hills and onto the farm track we saw 2 Red Kites, 3 Buzzards an Owl of some sort and to top it all off a Goshawk. How cool is that, all to the back drop of the Afon Dyfi .

Map

Dyfi Forestry

I Am The Connect Four Champion!!!!

I am now getting my dinner cooked for me, due to the fact that I am the reigning connect four champion in this household. wooooo wooooo. Its all gone quiet over that side...hahahaha

Now I'm not a bad looser, just not a gracious winner. haha I won!

The reason behind it was the fear that now that we're not working we didn't want to become the stereotypical veg in front of the TV types, now personally I could sit on here twiddling with blogs, facebook and various forums all night, but apparently that's unsociable. What!

So we now have non TV days where we play games or plan extensive walking routes on OS maps. The only slight problem is that I'm very competitive and sporty and my girlfriend is strategic and loves to beat at something, anything, just to say she can because she knows its unlikely to happen on a bike or board.

The thing she omitted to tell me when she casually challenged me to chess is that she was a member of the chess club at college for 3 years and regularly played at home. This she tells me after toying with me for 2 hours, gets bored, wants to finish the game and check mates me in 3 moves.

Hence we now have to play slightly less strategic games ( connect 4, jenga, tiddly winks) to give me a fighting chance and I have to give her a head start on a bike to reciprocate. Were hoping this way we wont have to many fall outs, but still...I am the champion, I am the champion, No sign of losers cos I am........

How to use a naked lady to figure out if you use the left or right side of your brain

Yes your right I'm bored. Well not exactly bored its just averaging 30knts out there and I've scared myself silly kitesurfing for half an hour until I deemed that enough was enough and came in before I hurt myself. Well I wouldn't want to ruin the rest of my time off after quiting work to live in wales in traction would I!

So nice and showered and warm again, I was just perusing the net and came across this in the Australia Herald.

It shows a turning lady. Yep and she naked. You have to look at her and see if you see her spinning left or right.

This apparently determines whether you use your left or right side of the brain for your decision making

I'm not going to tell you anymore because I don't want to influence your view. It had me transfixed for about half an hour.

Check out the meaning of this at the Heralds Blogg and leave me a comment back here to compare results.

Oh yeah and I'm a righty BTW

looks like I'm living in Wales then

Well thats it, we shut the shop on saturday, I had an offer on my house on Tuesday, and I drove down to Wales on Wednesday.

I'm currently sat on my deck in glorious sunshine looking out at this......

I dont want to brag but I wake up every morning to this view, I can see it from my dining table, while I'm doing the dishes, and just out of the corner of my eye while I'm watchin TV. Ahh life is good, posting on the blog has been a tad difficult as I have no phone line yet, fortunately my neighbours are letting me borrow their wireless signal, I can get a whole 11mbps if I stand diagonally in the left hand side of the deck with one foot in a bucket of water while at the same time holding on to a wire coat hanger. Ah well I think I can cope things are just going to have to slow down a little bit, the more people I talk to about what I'm doing the more I'm convinced I've done the right thing.

Ahhhhhhh the last few days of the sale!!!!!

OMG, just sneaking a quick 5mins from the mad house that once was a shop. My lovely little gift shop that used to be the pride of Blaby is now resembling an indoor car boot sale.

I've got boxes of stock stacked in every spare corner, dayglo signs everywhere and still I'm getting asked if were closing down!!!! is everyone blind round here.

Well thats its, I'm being called again and I can guarantee that its for something like " you know these candles that were £19.99 and now £6 a customer wants to know if she can have one for £3"...WTF, are they having a laugh, I'd rather give it to charity than just give it away.

Must dash

Tata

D Day -26, After the weekend

Is every muscle in my body supposed to hurt today or is that the trade off I've got to accept for having fun kitesurfing?

Theres a few questions I'd like answering if anyone can help?

Why is it when I take my 12m kite out I should have took my 9m out? and vise versa
Why could I do nice little backloops a month ago and now I'm incapable of even a nice little jump?
and Why oh why does everything hurt soooo much today....Am I getting too old for this?

Anyway it was back to work today, let me see now....for only 3 MORE WEEKS!!! sorry for shouting there, I'm just so excited, I've just got the sale at the shop to get through though. I nearly gave myself migraine from writing on all that fluorescent paper today, and the customers! Gee I know that technically the customer is God but good grief they can irritating, if I have to hear "Ooooo it's such a shame it was such a nice little shop, what are we going to do without it" once more I think I'll scream, what will we do, what will I do? its not them that's loosing their lively hood is it! their just loosing the convenience of popping down the road when it suits them. After all I haven't seen half of them in months, I like how they've crawled out of the woodwork now they think their going to get something for nothing.

I think I may just have to have some fun and games with them before I close. I've got this urge to start some rumours up, just to plant a little seed in someones head and see how long it is before another person asks me about it.

So, I'm closing because....

1. I've won the lottery.
2. I'm emigrating to New Zealand ( that may be too truthful though)
3. I met a rich Sheik in Dubai and I'm going to join his harem.
4. I think I can earn more money in the sex industry.
5. I'm joining a commune in wales where they don't believe in material wealth.

If I start this project tomorrow, how long do you think it will take before the rumours come back round to me? I'll let you know.

Tata