SUW - T-14

Two weeks today! Gulp.

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Pacerpole section came back today - I only posted it on Wednesday lunchtime. Delivered lengthwise through the letterbox (at least the postie is smart enough not to say it was too wide to fit).

Email yesterday from Heather (link from Heather about Mr Townsend's recent Stateside trip). The advice is:

When locking, try steady and firm turns so you can almost feel the nylon-plastic part of the bolt pressing against the inside of the shaft wall.....this allows time for it to fully engage.

I'll look at how I'm holding them, as I let them go into a naturalistic position, pushing myself along - I'll see what bad habits I've let myself get into. I'm probably guilty of overlocking with a rapid twist instead. Hence one section getting locked too tight. (YT link)

Still, it solves the issue of which charity to focus on for the SUW. I've decided to put links to both "Comic Relief" and the "Gurkha Welfare Trust" (for reasons mentioned before). People can then decide that if they want to use the walk as a focus, to donate money that way.

I was sickened to hear that the UK Government "planned to transfer £425 million from the Big Lottery Fund and £250 million from other good causes after 2009." (Source: BBC News). I don't know how this theft will affect real, honest good causes - not only from the government stealing from money 'donated' by the public through the national lottery, but by the expected drop in people actually doing the lottery because of this. With less money coming in, and more money going out to fund the British hosting of the Olympics in 2012, charities (honest to goodness goodness) will lose out. Or will they? Will people just give money directly to charity, thereby bypassing the lottery 'system'. In which case, I think that some low-key community projects will then be affected.

Ach well, we get the politicians that reflect society. People blag towels from hotel rooms, or break the speed limit on regular basis, justifying with excuses. Be a better society, and we'd get better politicians.

2 weeks today. Yaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. I need to get away from 'civilisation' and out into the real world.

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PS: link from Heather about Mr Townsend's recent Stateside trip. Chris' own blog has his comments. New word of the week 'pulk'. Chris comments that:

In six days in the Yellowstone backcountry we saw no people or even any trails. We did see bison and elk and the tracks of many animals and birds.

All I can say is 'wow'.

The longest I've gone, so far, is one day, when I only saw one person (and I said 'hi' as he cycled past). No, I tell a lie, I'd forgotten that a couple of days later there was one day when the only human contact was seeing 2 people in the distance (link).

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AktoCards list this week:

• Nr 1: Cameron McNeish (in with my TGO subscription)
• Nr 2: Heather & Alan @ Pacerpole Ltd
• Nr 3: Doreen at work
• Nr 4: Paul at work
• Nr 5: Fiona-Jane
• Nr 6: Parents (one each would have just been too much of an ego-trip)
• Nr 7: Mike