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2006/12/30 Couldn't resist showing you thisit's one of the other walking spots I do with the dogs. It's Ceasar's Camp out side Aldershot. Basically I use this bit of Army land to simulate being in the hills!! Well it is the hilliest bit near to home. But still a nice spot to be able to walk the dogs. Just like busesWhen I woke up this morning the weather was totally different to what I was expecting. Rain and more rain with a bit of strong wind thrown in was the expectation, blue skies and sun was the reality. I didn't need another invite to get up and get out with the dogs. Saturday being the chore day it usually is, I headed to Fleet Pond (hence the picture of "the hobbit bridge" as I call it). Apart from the glorious weather the thing that made this walk stand out was the fact that for the first time in over a year I saw deer. The dogs and I were walking along and no more than 100 feet, just like buses that don't come for ages three deer ran across the path in front of us. Bud made a half hearted attempt to give chase, but they had disappeared off into the woods. 2006/12/29 A No News Day - move along nothing to see here ;)Well it has been busy at work so not had much chance to do anything. Several projects I need to get started and reported back to you guys on (curse a busy home life). Started reading the book that arrived yesterday, it's good. I hate the chapters (Beyond Backpacking is like it to) that throw around scientific bits of information, and come up with this great formulas to prove a point. And the reason why I don't like them? Apart from feeling dumb, is that I don't have the scientific background to evaluate whether what they are saying is true or not. I hate taking things on face value.
Anyway this afternoon was a late lunch. Kev, Tony and myself had been invited to a lunch at Kalin's place, all we had to do was bring some drink. Just after 2:30 we turned up, and the ice cold vodka was broken open to be drunk with the cavia, russion salad and some pasta. After that starter we moved on to the main course of cava, some white wine drunk with some cooked pickled cabbage and slow cooked roast pork. That was such a magical combination the saltyness of the cabbage went so well with the pork. The two were made for each other. Oh and the cracklin, sublime. If you find yourself in Surbiton at a lunchtime you have to treat your taste buds and visit Kalin. I took the pork bones home for the dogs, and a doggie bag of some of the pork and cabbage. Kate had that for tea. She loved it, so you get no higher seal of approval than that. Kate is a hard act to please. 2006/12/28 New book arrivesUnfortunately they actually wanted me to work at work today! How unreasonable is that? So I've not had chance to sit down and price up options for the Quo software.
But I have managed to fix a pc for some-one this evening as well. It's been a busy day.
Waiting for me when I got home was my copy of "Lightweight Backpacking and Camping" edited by Ryan Jordan. So another book to add to the looong list of stuff to read. I hate to admit this but I've given up on the New Zealand book I was reading it was such hard work. I don't like to do this, but it was just stopping me from reading anything else. Maybe I'll come back to it some day (maybe when I get bored with life) and try and finish it then. Ok I'm ImpressedSo last night I emailed Mapyx with my queries/problems/questions. Wasn't expecting any reply until later today, as I hadn't sent the email until after 10pm. There was an answer waiting for me this morning!!!
I've uncovered a couple of bugs, a couple of things are me having to educate myself in how Quo works.
After getting round my spam filter, I can now see how good the Mapyx support is. I do feel quilty for the postings critising them now. And I'm glad I now have the opportunity to correct that by singing their praise.
Later I will price up various options from the website to see how much I think it would cost to get mapping software to plan the Challenge with. An interesting exercise that will be better than work ;) 2006/12/27 "A Lightweight Guide to Backpacking in Sustained, Cold Rain"Well I'm impressed Backpackinglight.com has some fantastic articles online for members. One of the latest is about "techniques, gear and clothing to keep your pack light and a smile on your face" in the rain. I printed it out to read on the train. Wow, what an article. And how relevant to the UK is this? Very, considering the climate we live in I'd say. Always on the look out for useful tips and advice. And this article is full of them. Although a picture of some-one wearing a black bin bag as rain gear (and we thought those school girls in Scotland were not prepared, obvisously they had gone ultra light weight on the mountains) seems to be a bit too ultra light and possibly dangerous. Also considering that I am going to be using trail shoes for the crossing, they also have an article comparing trail shoes (including the Innov8 ones) and their ability to absorb water, and how quick they dry out. So another article to print out and read for tomorrows train journey. This is proving money well spent on the online subscription. I hope the printed magazine is just as good. And that should be arriving soon as well ^_^ Menu PlanCurrently this is the menu that I am thinking of going with for the Challenge. It may chop and change between now and February/March when I start dehydrating it.
Beef with red wine stew with smash
thai green curry and sticky rice spag bol borritos chicken korma and rice chilli and rice laab and rice I remember seeing Andy post about his menu for the Challenge as well (can't remember if it is on his blog or OM). I think one or two of us will be taking a thai green curry and a beef stew. So I predict there may be a bit of healthy competition. I think I would (will) win with the Beef stew. Ok Kalin (see earlier blog entry) would win on that front as it is his stew I will be taking. Thai green curry is up for grabs I think. I'll be interested to know if the others are using a bought paste (and if so which?) or making their own. But January is definitely going to be the month of perfecting recipes, experimentation (I feel for my family already), and research. Back after the breakAnother Christmas has been and gone, it's back to work. Due to engineering works outside West Byfleet the schedule thirty five minute journey in actually took an hour fifiteen! Didn't get anything outsdoors related on the big day or anyday actually. I did get the bonus disk from Zelda:Windwaker that has four classic Zelda games on it (not had chance to spend too much time on it). Walking wise managed to get some nice local walks in with friends on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. I do enjoy sharing a walk with friends. This week I'm going to work with Mapyx to solve my queries on their mapping software (see earlier entries). So I will be reporting on how that is going. 2006/12/24 Merry Christmas Everyoneit doesn't feel very Christmasy (for various reasons).
But I do hope that you all have a good day tomorrow and you get what you wanted. New Gear - Gadgets For The Challenge Pt4The Aquastraw.
Out of the tube the straw is too short to be used with a 500ml bottle, ideally need a mug or cup.
To start drinking you just suck on the correct end of the straw (which is clearly labeled). To get the water through the straw you require as much suction as needed to drink a McD's chemical shake. The water tasted ok, and I could easily of drunk more. The filter at the end of the straw I drank from turned black a little, and there were some brown specs on the filter at the other end. I assume that this is proving that the straw filter is doing it's job. This is my emergency I need a drink now option when I'm not sure of how clean the water source is that I need to use. New Gear - Gadgets For The Challenge Pt3Long over due this section, more gear for the TGO Challenge. This time it's my wash kit. Also in the pack are the following: I think that covers all that sort of stuff. It does seem a lot when you write it all down.
Off the hook, and the Geko goes for a walkIt's late, I managed to find a suitable present for Kate today or is that yesterday now? And no I'm not going to blog what it is, just in case Kate sees this blog before Monday. Well she could, however remote it may seem. I know she dismisses the blog and thinks it's one of my mad ideas. But still she could decide to check up on me. So I'm not risking it.
What amazes me is that I get about fifty plus page views a day at the moment. I am so gobsmacked. And lets see Kate dismiss those figures ^_^
So it's the weekend, chance to play with the Geko! So I took it out on this (yesterday?) mornings walk with the dogs to try it out. It didn't do to badly, and only lost the sats above a couple of times as I walked through the trees. I now need to read the manual about accessing the data recorded. But still very simple to operate. Now will I be pining for a more complicated model for the TGO Challenge? Hmmm I do like my gadgets, will have to see how the money goes ;) 2006/12/22 Some replies at last, no thanks to SPAM filteringApparently Mapyx have been trying to contact me since I emailed them but I'd seen nothing. They claimed my spam filter must be catching their emails.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this as I did find one of them from the 20th December in my junk email folder. But none of the others.
So now I have a reply to look at and discuss with them. I appreciate the offer from Dan Drury for them to discuss this with me tomorrow. But due to having to get Kate a Christmas present (or be in deep do do on Monday!) and doing one of my longer dog walks I wouldn't be able to do anything. So we should be picking this up next week and discussing things.
It does look like I may of been a bit harsh, as it does look like Mapyx have made a good effort to contact me. So I will have to eat humble pie and apologise.
PS I know why the 20th December email ended up as being spam, with a name like BTCMarlinconsult@aol.com, and a subject of response and having an attachment. There is no way I would of associated this as coming from Mapyx, would of junked it straight away. If I don't recognise the name, the subject fits with spam I get and no way I would of opened it up with an attachment on. Maybe that makes me too paranoid on PC security, but I'd rather be that way and have a clean machine. Can't say about the other email attempts as they are not in my spam folder. 2006/12/21 It's all go in the world of podcastingWell I don't know where he gets all his time from to do this sort of stuff, but Podcast Bob of Backpackinglight.co.uk is kicking off a new venture called GapYearLight.co.uk (http://www.gapyearlight.co.uk/). The site is not totally live yet, but he now has 10 podcasts available to download via itunes, or the GapYearLight website. Go on pay it a visit, listen to one or two of the podcasts. It just may inspire you to do that one thing you've always dreamed of doing.
In the meantime the other news on the podcast front is that due to a nice "stop or we sue you into poverty" letter from some pet lizards (sorry couldn't resist the dig at the lawyer types) TheOutdoorsChannel has had to rename itself. Podcast Bob went off into the Wilds, left Rose at home to do all the work (we know who the real work horse is Rose don't worry ;) ), and had a spirit quest to come up with a new name. After several days beating himself with a stick Podcast Bob had that moment of clarity which would enable him to return home to Rose. In the New Year Podcast Bob will be launching The Outdoors Station (www.theoutdoorsstation.co.uk) which will be the new improved site that the American tame demons can't touch. In the meantime you can pick the podcasts from itunes or via http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/page17.asp.
Geko arrivesPostie makes the day again by deliverying my Geko 101 GPS. A very basic model that for the moment does what I want. It would be nice if it connected to a pc and allowed the swapping of data between a mapping program and the unit itself. Or even display topo info as well. But hey at twenty five pounds it can't be beat.
So will start playing with it at the weekend. Christmas has come early ^_^ 2006/12/20 January TGOOverdue but here at last, my comments about the two articles I like in the January issue of TGO. Well Chris Townsend gives some excellent advice on staying warm at night in winter when going lightweight. Some of the advice is common sense, but all I feel is applicable whether you are going lightweight or not.This is definitely advice that will be used on the Challenge. Which brings me to the second article I liked, which has been written by Ian Young of Winwood Outdoor in Keswick. They have the approach of not saying "everyone has to go lightweight", or "you're only lightweight if your pack weighs 5oz", but do what works for you. This is my approach, I do what works for me. It just so happens it's lightweight. And that is probably why I liked the article. Wow!! Backpackinglight.com Major StarsWell as you know I logged a call with Backpackinglight.com earlier, and I have just received an email that basically deals with the matter. All settled within what 6 hours or so.
Great customer service, a happy customer. Wow is there a link here. And still nothing from Mapyx. Shocking. See how hard was that?Today I had to email backpackinglight.com. I did so via a form on their website. Within 30 minutes I had an automated response acknowledging receipt and informing me of the ticket number allocated to the call. Mapyx watch and learn. You make customer support look hard when it isn't. Oh and it's nearly twenty four hours since emailing you, and no reply. I've stopped counting the days for the other emails. 2006/12/19 How hard is it to acknowledge an email?Well if you are Mapyx developers of the Quo mapping software and trying to break into an already established market, it seems nigh on impossible. One of the characteristics of new British companies trying to break into the outdoors market place has been to offer exceptional customer service. Such companies as Backpackinglight.co.uk or Alpkit have set new standards that established companies are finding very hard to match. And in the case of Mapyx even get in the same timezone. Submit an email through the form on the Mapyx website and that is the last you will hear of it. Even using one of the email addresses that they provide on the website as a direct contact nada. I've now emailed the company two times and not had an acknowledgment that the email has been received. The receipt is a simple thing to do and is usually automated anyway. But the main point of this is to confirm that your email has been received. A company should then have an initial response within twenty four hours. Granted not even M$ can achieve this, I've had to wait three days from M$ in the past (but then again their support call numbers will be considerably higher than anything Mapyx get). It's not rocket science, it doesn't require peace to be declared in the Middle East. All they have to do is respond in a timely manor to an email. It really isn't good enough. After hearing good things about them, and with them fielding questions on the OM forums I had high hopes. But sadly the reality of the situation so far is that Mapyx just aren't cutting it on the customer support side. Well I've sent them another email today giving them a chance to respond to the above. We'll have to wait and see if this happens. |
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