Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Touching the Void...

I have been without internet access for over a week! A week! What a plight! I have not been in such a situation in over eight years! Have my fingers withered away to nothing? Has my typing speed decreased by 10wpm?

I doubt it, but I am fucking sore.

I've just spent a week up some mountains in Scotland. In lovely typically Scottish weather. A bog tried to eat my left foot. Midges thought I had an "Eat for free" sign over my head. I swore loudly into a valley and listened for the echo. I went a whole day without going for a wee because all my bodily fluids were leaking out into my hair and down my back. The Edinburgh Festival was too poncey for me although there are a couple of pubs in the Grassmarket that are worth a visit, even now.

On the plus side, I didn't get too wet thanks to my proper hiking gear. I got to stay in a gorgeous Georgian mansion in the middle of nowhere, where the food was truly excellent and the internet connection truly non-exixtent. I met some fantastic people, those I knew already and some new folk too. I drank the finest Scottish Real Ale (Belhaven Best, if anyone's interested) and single malt Scotch (Glengowan). I ate cheese and pickle sandwiches beside the trig station on a 2300' summit with a sigh of relief while the wind blew all around and helped dry the sweat. And of course, kilts, haggis and bagpipes. Nice (!).

The stairs at work will never be quite the same.


2 comments:

Rosie said...

sounds idyllic, bar the pickle.

Govstooge said...

Pickles are nyom! Cleaning the crud off the Timberlands, however, was not.