Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

While stitching up the hand of a 75 year old Devon farmer, who cut it on a gate while working cattle, the rural doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Gordon Brown and his appointment as Prime Minister.

"Well, you know," drawled the old farmer, "this Brown fellow is what we would call a fencepost tortoise."

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a fencepost tortoise was.


The old farmer said, "When you're driving along a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's called a fencepost tortoise."

The old farmer saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain,
"You know he didn't get up there by himself, he definitely doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just have to wonder what kind of idiots put him up there in the first place."

since this is the talk to yourself thread i feel unable to reply to others.
so i shall have to just talk to myself i guess. i wonder what kind person or persons might return that tortoise to earth. seems a nice thing to do. perhaps it might then be able to get back to being a tortoise. maybe a hare might be more succesful.seems most think so. i already posted many months ago cycles recurr it dont matter who was or is in government it was due and so it is seems to be happening, yet again, and so it goes on, there is nothing new under the sun.that which has been before etc.etc. we just dont believe or it gets forgotten every third or fourth generation or so.lets remember to tell our grandchildren. maybe they will take it in and believe. she aint sung yet.
jkd

Oblomov and all,

Just got back from the Coast to Coast. Did the west to east direction. We also carried all our camping kit, about 24lb. The weather for the first 6 days was atrocious. Every time we needed to pause for either a rest, refreshment or both it meant sitting on wet ground, in the driving rain. The remaining 7 days was not much of an improvement. We had only 2 days out of the 13 with no rain, and 1 day with rain from about 4pm onward, every other day it rained for most of the day and night. But the scenery was absolutely magic, and we met so many interesting people.
We have many stories to tell, but won't bore you with them, but suffice to say it was an experience (even with the awful weather) and we raise about 300 split between Lupus UK and Dove House Hospice Hull.
Nice to be back to the humour of you all (notice Trev's still active).
Will be back down our local market square Sat wearing my protest (UK MPs are institutionally morally corrupt Democracy is dead T shirt).

Greek - sounds like you enjoyed it. One of the great things about the C to C is the camaradery with other walkers (it is famous for it) - we met (and drank with!) many people over the two weeks and that really makes ita great experience as opposed to the Pennine Way which is just tough with none of the socialising! We managed 7 or 8 days without rain - you were unlucky. You had the worst weather for the toughest part. Also did west to east - we're going back one day to do east to west. Well done on raising the money.

Thanks. As you rightly say, it's the people met that will be remembered just as much as the actual walking.
On Sat and on any day running up to the June elections if I do see any MPs that have been named and shamed (do they know what shame is) I will in a voice that will draw attention, tell them that while my son and myself, were walking for charity, they were bleeding us dry. Corrupt bastards.

Well done, Greek.

Your post stimulated me into finding out a bit more. I found a map for a start, which shows where it is and where the start and finishing points are:



By 'eck! It looks like a long way to walk in the rain!

Well done Greek! Can it be done by car? ;o)

Cheers Bob,

Yes its quite a way. Most sites show it as 190 miles, but it is now believed to be 210 due to the more modern accurate way of measuring (the original system had difficulty with measuring the gradients). Also you tend to do about another 10 miles due to detours to camp (can you still say that) sites.

Steve,

If you can get a car up some of those Lakeland hills, I will drive it down.

Greek.

And talking of cars.....

I see some of my taxes are helping people out there to buy a new foreign car under the scrappage scheme. I say 'foreign', because I don't think we make things in this country any more, do we?

Now surely, if they can afford a new car, why do they need a subsidy from me?

My car is only 1 1/2 years old. I'd like a subsidy to assist me to consider keeping it for another 2-3 years, or maybe even longer as I would be helping our 'balance of payments deficit'

Thinks....Do we still have a B of P D? I am not sure? But surely, it's better we spend our money in this country rather than on expensive imports, isn't it?

Greek,

It's actually considered to be nearer to 230 miles if you include the evening pub crawls!

You're all wrong on the distance.

Speaking as a Yorkshireman, I speak with authority that the walk is traditionally measured in the old northern measurement of "firkins".

The walk is 2 firkin long and 2 firkin steep.

Alan

:o)

The "scrapage system" is a political throwaway for voters in regions where we still make cars . . . . there are plenty to choose from, although rarely does a mass market Co make all their range in the UK.

As far as buying a new car is concerned, I consider them to be poor value for money ( like shares!), since they lose half their value in just 3-years.

Furthermore, I doubt that 2000 would cause me to change my 10+ yr old motor - to get something "similar" I'd have to pay well over 12k - so even assuming I get 2k-off I cannot get a "good deal" via a dealer . . . . whereas the depreciation starts at the "normal" price, which will be somewhat lower than list.
My car has virtually zero depreciation 0-- am I likely to swap it for something that loses 2000/yr . . . even if the mpg is 30% better - NO! becaue like many who have 10+yr old cars - I do very little milage, maybe 5000/yr so the lower fuel consumption is not a big issue.

+Before you say "you should consider the environment" - let me remind you that my old car has paid its manuafacturing "carbon footprint" over ten+ years, (ie the energy needed to make it) - whereas the "new" car is just starting to repay a massive energy cost. This "energy cost" is in direct proportion to the price (roughly), so if your car cost 25k it needs to last maybe 30+ years to have the same annual footprint as say a bijou-motor.

Has anyone here, taken advantage of this scheme? -
+ Did it work out a bargain?

I tried it at the off license with an empty bottle of 10 year old scotch to swap for a case of Stella and they booted me out.

hangon,
'Has anyone here, taken advantage of this scheme?'

Apparently several MP's have called their skatebords 'Ford' and claimed 2000 off their new Mercs and one case has been reported of an MP 'scrapping' a 1960's Dinky Ford Prefect.

Oblomov,

Your right re the pub crawls.

Alan,

Your mention of being a Yorkshireman, reminded me of the occasional few extra yards walked at night to find a friendly sheep. It helped to stop me missing my wife
so much. No doubt none Yorkshireites will never understand the comfort of a warm sheep on a cold, windy, rainy night.

I appreciate times are hard but after some thought I decided to post the following 2 sites that my son Mark has opened in able for anyone out there who wishes to donate for the Coast to Coast walk that we both completed, May 15th to May 28th 2009.
Any amount gratefully received.
I know that there are so many charities out there that no one can donate to them all, so will only mention this post again in order to thank anyone kind enough to donate.

This is a local Hospice.........www.justgiving.com/coast2coastdovehouse
This is a charity for Lupus Sufferers, an immunity attacking desease.........www.justgiving.com/coast2coastlupusuk

Greekman

No doubt all out there want to see our disgraced MPs treated the same as us serfs when it comes to criminal activities.
As a member of The Tax Payers Alliance (its free to join) I have just received their latest news sheet. They have pulled a team of legals together, with the intention of taking out private prosecutions against several of the worse offending MPs, if the powers that be IE Police/CPS decide to take no action.
In a previous post I stated that I would make my own approach to legal action via a criminal report. It now looks like the TPA will ensure these criminals do not escape justice, or at least a prosecution.
Some might just get what they deserve.
Being sorry, and paying back the proceeds of a crime has never been an escape clause re crime, specially when these are as a result of being caught.

Trevor was locked up for a political offence and Amnesty International wouldn't help him.

He broke into the conservative club and nicked a barrel of Watneys.

No problem. All he needs to do is say he will give it back, say he is sorry and sell his story to the papers. Also the con club sec will probably contact a Con MP who will put it on his expenses, at an inflated price of course, so its a win win situation.

Q Was it our local Con Club (Beverley) that Trev targeted, as I overheard an official looking bloke the other day as I was passing our local Con Club saying, " Someones snaffled some of our beer stocks, so just deliver another Firkin dozen barrels". And there was me thinking there was no such barrel size for beer.