h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey!.. just to say.. twas nice to meet you! (and bruce).. ..



- njan

Was groovy to meet you to- you have very nice hair! I hope I didn't Upset your woman too much by feeling her arse- but see journal disclaimer! What time did you leave? Don't rememeber seeing you after about 2100, but that might be due to the amount of consumed, of course

.. I don't think she's too upset at all.. ..

I can't remember, to be honest. We were at the second pub, and we didn't leave particularly late, but we were hanging around the bar more than the groups of people further back in the room.. .. I remember saying goodbye to bruce, and I /thought/ I said goodbye to you.. *starts to wonder what time that was and whether he's making it up or not*

Without wanting to interrupt the conversation, I left ~10:30, and Njan+Nyssa left at the same time, though I'm sure they had things other than time on their minds.

KA - I hope you don't have the same cold/flu as I've had - I *think* I picked mine up Friday/Saturday (incubation is usually 1-2 days, and I started feeling rough late Sunday)

hurrah! potholer saves the day! .. thankyou.

.. that sounds about right, though. *nods sagely*

Ooops - forgot to mention it was lovely to meet you, KA, I enjoyed talking to you + Bruce, even if I'm not entirely sure what about.

I've not got the same cold as you then Potholer- I only started sniffling yesterday- in fact, it's gone now, the drowning the bugs in beer operation must have worked

What did we talk about... Potholing possibly- Bruce is a caver (I stick to climbing) but that's total guess work It was great to talk to you too tho'.

the best for drowning bugs is whiskey.

gah! all these active people!.. I always stuck to going DOWN things attached to ropes, having found the easiest way up.. .. (that and scuba diving)

You quite possibly did say goodbe to me Njan, I was pretty far gone by 2230 ... I think I was at the bar talking to Anna, Mina, Blues Shark and Whisky at that point- althought that could have later, or earlier

Oh, I abseil too- but usually just as a side effect of climbing. I seem to have signed up to a 150ft abseil for charity down the side of a local uni tho'- don't know how that happened....

.. .. in which case, I claim the right to have said goodbye, and you to have forgotten.. *nods sagely*..

I ended up abseiling front-facing down a 200ft sheer cliff in wales for charity, once, with a bunch of royal marines. I don't know how that happened.. .. (although I think the front-facing bit was at the end when people had stopped watching us. We were just having fun by that point..)

Front facing? *shudder* Bruce has tried to get me to do that- I refused, point blank. I don't want to *see* the ground coming, thank you very much.

.. it was good fun, actually. Seeing the ground coming wasn't the issue for me - it was the fact that I had to abseil hands-free. Even if I'm being belayed, I always like something to hold onto, so the first time I went down I was petrified - but after I'd got used to it (and decided I could trust the sergeant who was sitting at the top of the rock), I started commando jumping down.

it really is fun!

Hmmm, I take your word for it. I'l stick to bouncing down arse first thank you

I shall say nothing.

What sort of thing do you climb up and bounce down?

(.. incidentally, the lovely pocket knife I had is no more.. it's now residing somewhere in the London Eye's security office. Of all the people to search, they had to choose me, and of all of the days on which to carry it, it had to be that day.. )

Hands-free? Aaaargh. I doubt I'd trust anyone doing that with me.

I suppose the nearest thing would be the winch down a 100m N.Wales mineshaft, but that is pretty slow, and going down is much nicer than going up, when you have to make sure you don't lean your head back under any of the relatively overhanging bits, since it's a very strong winch.

I don't *mind* surface abseils, but definitely prefer the dark (or near-dark) - Malham Cove is a bit intimidating compared to Gaping Gill. I do hate figure-8s though - nasty horrible things that twist the rope and don't autolock. I'm much happier with a Petzl Stop, even with all their particular faults.

.. potholing is one of the few things I've never done which I'd really really like to do but I'm not sure that I could deal with; as a diver, I'm scared of underwater areas where I can't swim upwards if necessary. Although the prospect is appealing. It'd be interesting to see if I enjoyed the experience or not.

.. as someone who's both abseiled using rope alone and using a harness and a carabiner as a makeshift friction device, I have to say that it'd be presumptuous for me to insult the wonderful figure of eight. .. although the last time I looked, Clog made special ones for caving - though I have no idea what difference they make, aside from protruding spikey bits. It's been a long time since I flicked through a catalogue of gear, and I usually use MoD kit anyway (which is mostly clog, to be honest, but still.. )

I like Petzl stops, although it takes a while to overcome the instinct to tighten one's grip to slow down! Figure of eights are *evil*- although it is quite easy to lock one (two twists over the top) and they don't budge at all once locked- unlike Petzl stops! I just really hate the mess they make of the rope

I like to use an ATC to abseil- naughty I know, they're not really designed for it, but I find them fun to use, with one however, you really are buggered if you want to lock-off. Abseiling with a krab I've done too, although only down a short rock, so I knew how to do it in case the need arose.

I usually abseil back down long climbs if the walk out is either a. miles away b. evil looking or c. I just can't be bothered.

We usually end up doing at least one abseil for fun tho', coz Bruce loves it so much