7°C, frosty start again, some cloud this time.

---

Revisiting the Wrekin: this time with Hannah. In contrast there were far more people there, the sky had a thin layer of high stratus, there was less mist.

In the sunshine is was just about warm enough to sit and eat a packed lunch. One guy was doing this which made both dogs curious; he then ordered us in a patronising voice "take some responsibility for your dogs", so I said ok, then carried on as before; not to laughing until out of sight. I wondered later, how many people he said this to since a dog would have passed hime about twice a minute (there were that many people there).

 

These photos are also posted to my Flickr account, which is proving quite interesting. This is a worthwhile community, it takes itself quite seriously and doesn’t tolerate nonsense. My photos haven’t been reviews yet so they won’t appear on public lists, but that should be done sometime this week.

 

Computer: yesterday’s computer problems may be fixed. I took out a memory module and have not had a repeat crash/blue-screen. The modules seem rather loose in their slots, so perhaps the contacts aren’t secure enough. Perhaps later I will try putting the RAM card back in since I do miss that last 512Mb of RAM: (Currently running on 1024Mb).

7°C, clear

---

3 Peaks: today was the second of our training walks. The view from the top was a lot more than I expected. There was still low lying mist in the surrounding flat landscape. See pictures. The lowest lying land was thick with mist, in places unbroken mist had power lines poking through. In others, just the tops of trees.

 

PC plod: this is one poorly machine, I’m getting blue screens and fatal STOPs which is rare with Windows 2000. The codes in the error screen point to faulty RAM. though pulling the box apart and looking in suggests that the RAM cards are just not a very tight fit. Perhaps the contacts are poor, or generating noise.

 

Painting(yesterday): this is the first layer of linseed/paint in this picture. It all went on the guy’s face, nothing more has been added to the horse. It’s going to be hard to see the difference in this photo, but I am working on improving my photogrphic technique to make them clearer.

11°C, mostly sunny

---

In all the years I lived there, I didn’t pay a visit to the zoo. The only real comparisons that I can make are with Twycross in Leicestershire. It’s smaller, but with a far greater imagination in its development. There are a few headline features that can’t go unmentioned- the underwater tunnel where you can watch the penguins feed on fish, there are a number of enclosures that get you up close to the animals. They are entered through double-gates beneth netting tents so the animals share the same space as visitors. They don’t have many of the big headline animals, lions yes- but no elephants, rhino, or giraffes. On the other hand thay do have one of my favourites- the Tapir and another that makes me want to buy a few acres of forest to have my own- the Okapi. What a fine gentle soul those creatures are- ’tis a shame it was so hard to photograph. Still, the Tapirs did perform for my camera’s video capture- which is all getting edited today and tomorrow.
The place is well laid out, there were no chavs and in a very likable part of the city- therefore well worth a visit.

 

Say hello to a meerkat->

 

Flash: found a nice little Flash game from a French developer: Jeu Chiant. You have to balance the ball while batting the other one with mouse-movement, you get a time at the end. Simple, fun but not too annoying like these things can be.