Apr
29
Planning the TRIP!
Filed Under Daily
Well after clarification with both Daves, I am planning my trip. I will be on my own on Saturday. I think it is more efficient this way. Here is the plan:
Friday 01/05: We leave around 9 am from Manchester where they will pick me up. We should arrive at Glencoe before 5 pm and they will drop me at the Wolly Rock B&B before joining their own campsite. They might camp at the same location as the hiking club in order to facilitate the social events. I have booked a table at the Loch Leven Cafe for 6:30 pm.
Saturday 02/05: After breakfast, I have decided to do this walk: Bein a’Bheithir (Walk Highlands). It will be my first walk alone. I will use what I have learned from the hiking club. I am very excited about this idea. Alone and lost in the wild! I told Dave M that I will meet them at 4:30 pm at the B&B place. It is easier since it is on the way. They could also pick me up along the A83. We should arrive at the cottage in Skye around 7 pm.
Sunday 03/05-Sat 09/05: Dave M has suggested several walks: Bla Bheinn (950m ascent, 6k) , Sgurr na Coinnich (750m ascent, about 12k), Five sisters of Kintail. I have downloaded all the information (map, description, route). We will probably decide as we go along, weather permitted, what to do. There are other places not too far that are great for walking as well.
I have bought a headtorch, a nice waterproof poncho (I really love this poncho, I look like one of the Lord of the Rings fellow in it). I probably need a small survival kit just in case. I want to look professional more than anything else. I really don’t know if I should invest into professional maps. I also have a fancy compass. I need a whistle.
Sooo exciting! My own adventure and I am ready to rumble.
Apr
28
I got along with both Daves but yesterday I had to harden my position. Dave M at the BD’s dinner wanted to measure my willingness to be social when he suggested the idea of staying late next Saturday in order to do social things with the hiking club in the evening. I was very annoyed with the idea and I sent out an email warning both that I will not go if that is what they want. They both knew they were hitting a delicate question with me. I do not like putting pressure on them but they left me with no choice.
Apr
27
Food, Powerball and Secondhand Market
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These were the three funny events during this weekend. The food was excellent as usual. My dad showed me his new toy, a funky powerball. The first time I tried, it was very hard to turn it the right way and after several times, I got a hand of it. Very funny and I am trying to buy one on ebay. We went on Sunday to a seconhand market, my mom found an Lacrosse jumper for me, It fit me perfectly. I found out on the tag that it was for a 14 years old kid. LOL I am short but my butt is big. It is very hard to find suitable pants for me. So I was glad she found a Lacrosse jumper for me. It is very comfortable and I love it. Coincidently, the french television showed the movie, “Scent of a woman” yesterday. My brother and my dad enjoyed the movie very much.
The swim was hard. I was a bit rusty after a nice and relaxing weekend. I felt a bit rusty but I was quite fast. I am now as fast as Jane. I got confirmation this morning. Dave E sent an email and asked a small group of people to join him for a dinner and drink for his BD. I will join them but I did not mention anything about my own BD over the weekend.
Apr
24
I will bring extra stuffs back to Paris this time in order to have less to carry on the plane next time for the final move. My skiing jacket is really big and heavy and also all my winter jackets. I really don’t need them.
3 hours of this boring lecture and then it is over. It might be better since we are having a guest speaker today. We were being asked to prepare some questions. I do not really think anyone will ask anything. It migth be a catastrophy! So many students have skipped the lecture yesterday, the lecturer has given up on making us sign a presence sheet. I think he should be looking for another job elsewhere or he better improves his skills next year.
Perfect swim again! Tuesday is probably the busiest day. Maybe people got annoyed and after last Tuesday, they just gave up. I like it when there are no old people. They are very slow but worse of all, they swim in the middle beause of a very bad technique. I also talked a bit to Jane, the pretty blond platinum, she told me she was away because she had a back injury. I noticed she was slower than me now. It is hard for me to judge now what my level really is.
Apr
23
Birthday Coming!
Filed Under Daily
What would I give to forget this day! It shall come then this Friday, nothing to do about it but accept it. I have seen two decent movies the last few days: Last chance Harvey and Somers town. They are okay but nothing comparable to Scent of a woman. Nothing is the same after this movie anyways. I am in a mood for drama these days, I think I’ve got the Spleen. I am not in a good mental state the last few days…BD is coming, my time here is ending, time to think about the next move. Come on Pierre, one foot in front of the other! Move on!
I have class in 20 min and I have no desire attending this stupid class at all. The lecturer has huge troubles with it himself and it is such a mess. I hope they will go easy on the grading because I can feel a disaster coming.
The swim was perfect, fast and smooth. No one bothered me, they stayed away from me as if my speed scared some of them away.
Apr
22
3 Beers Only!
Filed Under Daily
This shall remain my golden rule for the future. I get headaches when I get over this number. It is unpleasant for the next day.
After few days of intense games playing, I am fully satisfied with the Dell performance. I am not too excited about Vista though. Heavy shit that keeps on controlling everything making the download of webpages slow!
I kept on watching over and over the final speech of the movie, "Scent of a woman". Very nice piece of work! I gave to the beggar who returned my credit card last time another quid yesterday. I paid my last rent to the school as well and in two days it will be the final draw for the tuition. That will be it for the financial burden here.
Apr
21
Nice Weather
Filed Under Daily
It is very unusual for Manchester but the last few days were really nice. I even had sunburns on my nose from my last two hikes. I could see that my arms are getting darker. Dave M asked me if I wanted to join them today for a day hike in Wales. I was tempted but I was a bit tired from last Sunday’s hike and I am swimming also this morning so I’d rather stay home.
I will fly back to Paris this weekend, and then next weekend, I will have my last vacation in Scotland. Amit, a student from India, wanted to join us for Skye. His parents are rich. It is nice because maybe I can go out with him to try a fancy restaurant. Dave M and Dave E prefer to eat at home. I could cook something nice also. I prefer cooking at home since it’s better and cheaper.
I have to concentrate on my law exams anyways I need to make sure I will not fail. I do not want to come back in September to resit. That would be annoying. So I have two weeks of lectures and that’s it. My time in Manchester is coming to an end, slowly but surely.
Apr
20
I went hiking with Dave M & Co yesterday. I am very tired today. I had a great walk/climb again but nothing as hard as last week. We finished early which was nice. We had some good time in a pub as well: Pictures.
The movie on Friday was: Scent of a woman. It was an excellent movie. I loved it.
Apr
17
Strange Side Effect!
Filed Under Daily
Because of the hard walk/climb, half of my body was frozen and sore at the beginning of the week. During the swim, I had to pay more attention to my technique and optimize it. Somehow I managed to level up and I was much faster. I was content with this nice positive effect. Indeed swimming unlike other cardio/power sports is all about technique: 75% of technique and 25% of fitness. This morning, I had another delightful event. I finished my 3kms when the swim squad left. I then moved to their private lane next to mine. The coach was standing right there talking and for other people, it looked like I was being trained by them. I also speed up like they do in a race because I wanted to push myself. No one else moved from the other lanes to mine and I had a whole lane for myself for the rest of my workout. Wonderful!
Coura: Comment ca se passe avec ton nouveau boulot? Comment trouves tu Munich? des news…voyons! Il te faut un blog!
Apr
16
After two long weeks, I am finally enjoying my new baby. Everything is working great and it looks so nice. I should have bought it a long time ago. I like the fact that it is very quiet, I need to get used to the qwerty keyboard. I will also have to buy a french powerplug. It’s time to gather all the external HDs and compile my data to one single disk. They are now spread everywhere, and it is quite annoying.
I’ve made a compilation of my favorite songs: part1, part2 both are needed in order to be uncompressed in winrar. I will try to play some games today, the latest ones of course, I could not play them even with my Asus before :). I’ve seen my first Bluray movie yesterday, X-men the Last Stand. It was smooth!
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