Recent Experiences

I have just finished a chunk of travelling about the country for a variety of purposes. I started off by driving up to Blackpool for the 2009 Heroes ASL Tournament. My play record at the tournament was dire - win:loss ration of 1:3. It was enjoyable, but I do find it somewhat intense. Some of the scenarios were good.

After Blackpool I had decided to spend some time in the Lake District, as an alternative to driving all the way back to Milton Keynes and then from Milton Keynes to Scotland. I drove up to Borrowdale and stayed in a hotel there for four nights. I got a shock driving from Keswick to Borrowdale on two levels - I realised that it must be 15 years plus since I was last in the Lake District. In my 30's I used to go to the Lake District on a very regular basis to stay in my friend Simon's parents' cottage in Seatoller in Borrowdale for walking weekends. The shock was compounded by the road being familiar. My skills do not usually extend to recognition of geography.

Over this period I went for a number of walks, all of which I have done before. The first I did was Catbells, on the afternoon of the day I got there. It is a lot more worn than when I was last there - it is now like a motorway up the hill. It was here I got my second shock of the few days I spent in the Lakes. I am older, fatter, and unfitter than when last I was here. The second walk I did was about four hours; up Catbells, Maiden Moor, High Spy, to Dale End Tarn, and then returning by the same route. The last walk I did was to drive up Honister Pass nearly to the top, and then strike directly up to Dale End. Then Hindscarth and onto Robinson, in order to drop down nearly to the bottom of the pass and then walked back up the pass. I underestimated how long it would take to walk back up the pass - about one and a half hours. As a result the total walk took me about six and a half hours, which left me tired and not up to walking on the last day I spent in the Lakes. As a result the last day I spent in Keswick doing emails and other low key activities.

Then I went on upto Samye Ling Tibetan monastry for a week. Description of this will be in another blog entry. After the week there, I started to drive back to Milton Keynes, which took a lot longer than I had thought it would. I realised at about 16:00 that if I were to continue I would get back to the boat in the dark, after the time that running generators is allowed, and that the boat would be cold (no stove lit, and the boat having been deserted for over a fortnight) with no food and the bed unmade and ... As an alternative I decided to stop the night at a motel in Sheffield.

More to follow.

Heros

I spent the weekend (Thursday to Monday) attending and participating in the Heros Advanced Squad Leader tournement held in Blackpool. I drove up to Blackpool from Milton Keynes in a very leisurely way on Thursday, arriving about 13:00. I had eaten lunch at a motorway service station before I arrived, so I was able to book into my room and then go out for a long walk along the seafront and then the beach towards Lytham St Annes and back. The weather was glorious - a far call from the equivalent weekend last year, which was snow, sleet, slush, bitter winds, and all in all not very nice. The difference in weather made a substantial difference to Blackpool too. Last year there were virtually no businesses open, and very few people around. This year most of the businesses, including the big dipper, were open and there were a lot of people around (including unfortunately, hen and/or stag parties which were disturbing the peace between 02:00 and 03:00 some of the nights).

The tournement proper started on Friday, Initially I increased my unbroken sequence of losses from 11 to 13, but then won one game, lost another, and then won the last one. As a result I ended up the tournement with a record of 2-3 for the event, which will, I am sure, shift me off the bottom of the ranking list. The selection of scenarios at the event was really interesting and presented a variety of knotty problems.

I had managed to leave my mobile phone - my only phone - on the boat. This did not help as I had an auction going on ebay for the sale of my old boat engine, which terminated on Saturday, and the travel agent for the Xtreme Everest expedition required payment for the (small) outstanding balance by Friday. Trying to use the bed and breakfast's pay phone revealed that one of the keys on the numeric key pad was not working, so I could not use that, and attempts to use Skype by one of the attendees did not work for a variety of trivial, but annoying reasons. I ended up borrowing the under desk phone from reception at the bed and breakfast, and duely made my calls. Then somebody needed to get back to me in respect of the engine sale, and this was another farrago of problems.

The good news was that the engine sold, for an amount that I considered reasonable, and I have subsequently arranged for the engine to be collected from the boat yard where it is currently held.

Heros Advanced Squad Leader Tournement

I have been looking at the scenarios for the Heros ASL Tournement in Blackpool in March. I currently have the distinction of being bottom of the UK tournement ladder - having lost 11 games in a row. Cheer up they said - things could be worse; so I cheered up and sure enough things got worse. I enjoy playing ASL which I find a fascinating game; but as I am not particularly competitive I enjoy the game, and the simulation it provides; but am not too bothered about the actual results of the game.