Author Archives: essiep

The Reader

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22°C, blue then greyer, humid all the while

New film to add to the top ten: The Reader: based on the Bernard Schlink book. I’m left so stunned that I can’t really make much of a post here. With a background of Germany dealing with it’s recent history, the relationship is however, inseparable from that background so it is not really a background at all. Their story looks at an impossible relationship that spans a whole lifetime.
In fact I have just deleted most of this post because it is best to meet this film with no fore-knowledge. Go and see it, just as an incentive– there are no car chases, no shooting so special effects.

on top

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24°C, fair + Sun

Prepare for the Alpine adventure. Stuff organised. I failed to buy travel insurance from my bank today. In I walked and found someone to deal with, who sent me to an empty room with a phone to get a quote. The phone number I was given patched me through to one of those press-#-robots. the reason I walked there in the first place was to avoid those infuriatingly tedious machines. I wanted to speak to a human being, I’m not lonely and seeking the company- but humans are easier to deal with. So I hung up and bought the package elsewhere. Lloyds; are you reading this?

No, I thought not.

Such a draw.

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19°C, rain band, cleared eastwards now

Why is climbing mountains such a draw?

You meet the most remarkable people on these mountains. As long as you stay off the honey-pots, the other areas can be quite remote (in feel). It’s the feel that is so important in this, on those wilderness places, there is some kind of magic that builds a certain ‘feel’ inside. Mostly in your chest, but it does sometimes clamber up inside and reach your throat. It’s also a very physical experience, though that can’t really be separated from the sensations outside and inside. They are all woven together. I am comforted by the fact that I can go on long enough for the experience to be engrossing and no passing nuance. Some of those walks were ten hours, though mostly more like eight. I took time to shoot photos, to eat, to tend to my poodle and to look and to see.there were streams for Rosie to drink from, ponds/lakes for me to wash and rocks to injure myself on. Once walking across a flat grassy plane, all squelchy marsh but harmless looking, I plunged my foot down into an unseen cavern up to my knee. That hurt enough to justify using the F word. You can never be off your guard out there.
That’s nothing compared to getting lost on the Glyders in the cloud & rain. It took over 2½ hours to find a route down and that was on the wrong side of the mountain down a very steep heather covered slope. A slope that took nearly two hours to get to the bottom plus a six mile walk back to camp. I was very close to phoning for mountain rescue up there. I felt trapped but remembered something once read- keep making decisions, don’t give up making decisions.
That was one stressful day but I got happily back to camp before dark. Sunset is late this time of year though, a valuable safety net.
Relief.


The marshfield in the Rhinogau with hidden traps. Tread and squelch with caution.

Llwybr Cyhoeddus

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22°C, sunny

Came back from Wales a day early because of some guttural illness. It was not easy trailing up that 1:5 hill to get to the toilet block of that last camp-site.
I was there a week and had quite an experience.
Day 1: Carneddau: Easy walk up to the first peak. Little more than finishing off walk in June that I cut short because of  time.
Summit Pen Yr Helgi Du, 845m
Day 2: Glyders. The first days were difficult; wet weather meant I got lost on a mountain Glyder Fawr. It had clear paths but each one led to nowhere, we’d spent 2½ hours looking for the route up there in the clouds. that was stressful. In despiration, I took a southerly route after spotting a clearing in the cloud and seeing a lake that was recognisable. Even so, getting down that slope took two hours- it was very steep and no clear pathways there either. This took us to the wrong side of the mountain but the 5 mile walk back to camp was at least clear.
Summits: Y Foel Goch 805m; Glyder Fach, 994m
Day 3: Drive home– but a change of mind while passing through Betws-y-coed saw me turn south and pitch the tent on the coast at Llandanwg. It was a glimmer of sumshine that did it.
Day 4: the Rhinogs: Change of weather and the sun comes out- so repeat that route up the Roman steps (from June) with no fog to obscure the route this time. This time we made the ascent up to Rhinog Fawr
Summit: Rhinog Fawr. 720m
Day 5: Cnicht: Another magnificent day, you meet some great people on these mountains. There is nothing lonely about taking a holiday on your own in places like this. It’s probably better having a conversation breaker, in this case; a dog.
Summits: Cnicht, 740m, Moelwyn Mawr 770m in blazing sun.
Day 6: Move to Cader Idris, the camp next to Kings Youth Hostel. Excellent site which became rather crowded and Friday evening wore on. Tents were pitched with overlapping guys. There was a developing community there, many knew each other before and the atmosphere was excellent. But..
I became ill in the night.
Must be something I ate.

Here is an excellent guide to Welsh pronunciation: Placenames

Oblast

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20°C, light clouds

Map image

The map is from Microsoft, it is capable of showing more detail, but you have ot follow the link to see it. It appears that the recent maps are more detailed than the flight sim; both owned by Microsoft.
Eastern Siberia, just so you know. Though in the middle of the world’s largest continent, there is water everywhere.

Obscure Siberia

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19°C, rain.

Firefox: get version 3.5+ if you use this and a multicore processor- it now seems to multithread evenly on all four here. That is good, it means that the browser is nearly as fast as Google Chrome.
FSX-scenery: as long as they are relatively simple, making airstrips for this flight simulator doesn’t take long. I got six started or done yesterday. Okay, I admit, it was a monster session on a day of pouring rain.

  • UESS_Cherskiy
  • UEBB Batagay
  • UHMK_Keperveyem
  • UEBW_Verhojansk
  • UHMI Mys Schmidta (aka Moyale on Nth coast of E Siberia)
  • UEST_Tiksi (finished a while ago, but includes detailed replacement for the River Lena delta)

Most of these strips are next to rivers, some are old cold-war bomber bases with very long runways, most are semi-derelict. Some are closed.
Siberians don’t usually live far from a river (it’s transport, food and somewhere to drive in the long winter months). These landacapes are obviously remote, barren and frighteningly beautiful- to use an old-fashioined word- ‘sublime’.
AVsim’s library is back online so there will be available there soon. I may as well use Live’s Skydrive here to host them too.
Weird lands; have a look in Google-Earth.

Dee of Ee

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20°C, sun & showers

Only a short slot in which to write. Hope the tent dries out in this half-hour. After, I shoot out for a meal organised by QM. Still trembling with tiredness, all credit to noisy kids talking all night on the camp-site. Why girls, all the loud conversation, it’s only rain? The solution was obvious but not to hand- ear-plugs.
We did feel a certain moral superiority on the hiking trips; we staff hiked. Other schools’ staff manned checkpoints sitting in their cars having driven up onto the plateau. Our kids had expected us to do just that when they asked about this; the answer shut them up. We packed our rucksacks and hiked up the climbs too. In fact, on the second day, we’d worked out that we could give them an hour’s head-start and get to the checkpoints before them. That depended on the extreme slowness of our kids of course, and that is the way it turned out to be.

Rosie quickly became the trip’s mascot. On leaving yesterday the girls gathered by the gate as we drove out, all waving and cheering. When close enough I could hear "bye Rosie" etc. hey, what about me? It’s me that marks your coursework!
that dog impressed everyone, she changed quite a few minds about the virtue of the poodle breed. She also did a fine job of pre-washing the girls’ saucepans- Rosie likes beef stew, noodles and spaghetti hoops.

soon…

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20°C, drizzle then light and warmth

A day for conflict, borrowing, exasperation, reconciliation; a day for an early night.

…night.

Hey, again… up for a spin

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20°C, showers with rumbles

Hey again, up for s pin?…pretty rain makes you smile…this is something, why don’t you come in?…this is some swell trash….Jesus, he’s easy, the safest way to go home….Hell, nothing’s boring, never could panic alone…Hey again, my only friend, pretty rain makes you smile, don’t pretty rain make you smile?…You are something, why don’t you come in?…You are some swell trash… Hyper-martyr, never would panic alone…Find her, my safest way to go home
K.Hersh.

This storm is getting further away…

one elephant..two elephant..three elephant…nine elephant
about 1½ miles away now.

Even the kids are tired at work; they feel like us. I caught two fast asleep in the computer room; they woke lost and surprised, staggering with pins & needles.I feel for them.