Journal Entries
Useful things I'd like to have
Posted Aug 18, 2003
(The start of an intermittent series to be added to as the muse takes me.)
1. (to buy) Variously tinted freezer bags, so I could stuff empty used bags away in the freezer, and later on re-use (red) bags that had contained raw meat for other raw meat, (green) bags that had contained vegetables for other veg, etc.
2. (probably to make) Wire glove-stands for drying out my caving gloves after washing.
3. Not hugely useful, but I can't help thinking that a mobile phone that doubled as a universal remote control for TV/video, etc could be rather handy - just need one with buttons large enough to push easily.
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Latest reply: Aug 18, 2003
Slovenia exploration
Posted Jul 27, 2003
Off soon to Slovenia for a fortnight's caving and dossing around on a sun-and-lightning-lashed mountaintop.
The main target cave was taken from -400m to -600m 2 years ago, and has loads of leads at the bottom, so there's a lot of potential, and I spotted a nice potential surface dig site last time I was out there which warrants further investigation.
I've just finished adapting my old Petzl Laser headset to work with 7 white LEDs and multiple power levels, and I hope my engineering will stand up to the knocks and bumps it's likely to get, though I'll make sure to take a backup light as well.
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Latest reply: Jul 27, 2003
More caving...
Posted Jul 6, 2003
N. Wales
Wednesday evening - fixing frame on to rock walls with power drill and spits, and making good solid wooden lid for Hole no.1. Slow progress, but good result. Ultimately ran out of daylight and nails for lid. Next trip down no.1 will be boulder-cracking with Hiltis
Thursdays - Dewi wheeled old wheelbarrow with 75kg of sand and cement across moor and down steep grassy path to cave no.2 entrance (the 'loose' one). Some time moving scaffolding frame to allow obstructing boulder to be hammered and dropped. I wandered off to put remaining nails in no.1 hole lid while D&P loosened and dropped more of the hanging death in hole no.2 (sometimes even on purpose).
Got back in time to start mixing sand+cement, which is being used by P to try and grout some of the larger boulders, ideally to enable some heavy steelwork to be lowered down the hole at some future date without risking one small knock bringing down an entire wall (and much of the roof and/or riverbed).
This was the second cementing trip, and it is esitmated there will have to be 2 or 3 more before the hole is solid enough to allow shoring work to be commenced with a good likelihood of survival. With my luck, the support work will be finished and they'll dig through into some going passage while I'm off in Slovenia.
Friday - up at 6-30 to pack car. Leave ~7-00 to drop K (D's other half) off in Cheshire to go to work, and then D and I get to the cafe in the Dales by 9am. Off for a quick yet leisurely trip down Bull Pot (Kingsdale), then out to pick up K from Lancaster. back to hut, eat and demolish bottle of wine each before another mate turns up and drives us to local pub about 9-30. Stay socailising and swigging beer until ~1pm, then walk back to hut. D falls over on walk back and strains ankle. Bed ~3-30
Saturday - D not caving, so off with M,P,T to do Aquamole Pot. Very impressive shoring at entrance, reasonable early pitches and awkward short narrow passage, but lovely final 40m pitch down large shaft. Plod out, beer at entrance, back to eat and then much more restrained evening in pub.
Sunday - much faffing around, then decided to pop down Rowten Pot. My first time down since it was P-bolted (faster, probably a bit safer, but takes some of the fun away). Nice quick trip. More beer at entrance. M initially unsure about the trip, but warmed to it as the day went on, and ended up glad.
It seems to have been decided I'll be doing the through-trip later this year, with the aid of a small bottle for diving through the sumps. Serves me right for having cave-divers as mates, I suppose.
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Latest reply: Jul 6, 2003
Nice weekend.
Posted Jun 10, 2003
A great weekend caving. Did a couple of good trips with three very old friends, one of whom is just getting back into proper caving as a result of a (hopefully temporary) ban from diving after a recent serious bend.
Not mega-hard trips, (Tatham Wife and Lancaster->Wretched Rabbit) but excellent fun, and reasonably tiring done at respectable speed without any real waiting around.
On the Lancaster trip we went the dry high-level route, since heavy rain had rendered the streamway route impassable, and I got so hot I had to ditch my thermal top and just wear salopettes and oversuit, which was a bit sticky but definitely more pleasant.
Visited the industrial museum in Manchester on the way back on Monday to kill a bit of time. Excellent museum with some great exhibits, though whoever wrote the stuff in the nuclear power section seemed to have only a passing knowledge of the subject, and had made quite a few mistakes.
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Latest reply: Jun 10, 2003
Every day in every way...
Posted May 30, 2003
Apart from the main jobhunt problems, things are going fairly well.
Two onging decent digging projects in Wales - one surface dig, one clearing mud from and enlarging/stabilising an old mine entrance.
Programming progressing fairly well - enough mistakes to learn plenty of things from, but steady movement towards writing something useful.
On the fitness front, I'm trying to cycle a ~12 mile road circuit every couple of days, despite the variable weather. Since starting a few weeks ago, I'm steadily improving - started off at over 50 mins for a run or two, but the last 4 times have been 48/45/43/41 minutes.
Currently 17.4mph average, with plenty of room for improvement.
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Latest reply: May 30, 2003
Potholer
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