Sunday 27 May 2012

Babies, Bath-Water, and the Pursuit of Excellence.

This week for one reason or another I took some tests to determine what kind of decision-maker I am. I may explain what exactly these tests were about, but at present I just can't decide whether to go public. You see that is the problem: the tests showed me to be a cautious decision-maker. Apparently I like to theorize and consult endlessly before arriving at a conclusion. So if I were to head some organisation it may well become bogged down waiting for guidance from the great leader (me). Should I be worried? Not a bit. I rather like being cautious. Change is a dangerous concept especially when one is dealing with other people's lives. So I'm rather proud of my reticence. I entitled my presentation to those who had charged me to answer the 'decision-making' tests as 'Babies, Bath-Water, and the Pursuit of Excellence'. That about sums it up.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Evacuated.

This afternoon Lorna Jenner - author of from Liverpool to Loggerheads - gave a fascinating lecture to the Caerwys Historical Society. She drew upon her extensive researches on the impact being evacuated had upon the children of Liverpool. Infact Lorna made us realise that it was not just the process of being evacuated that was difficult, but the returning back 'home' after the war was equally challenging.

I have written about evacuation to the Caerwys area. My view is that conditions for the evacuated children were not always as positive as the propaganda of the day had us believe. In fact accounts from the evacuees' are much more likely to be from those that had a positive experience. Those children who were exploited or who suffered life-changing homesickness are much less a likely to be recorded for historians to consider. 

In my introduction to the lecture I described evacuation as the greatest social experiment ever undertaken in this country. All we heard this afternoon confirmed this opinion.

Saturday 19 May 2012

My Criccieth Audax

I am just back from another amazing day of cycling. This time it was a 100km+ ride around the Lleyn Peninsular. We rode with a group of ten riders as we doubled the audax with a charitable collection for a local eisteddfod. Fuelled with bacon sandwiches we flew to Aberdaron for morning coffee. The only complication was the 20% hill out of Hells Mouth.
Roger and Robert complete the climb.
Then it was on the very tip of the peninsular and a team photograph with Bardsey Island in the background.

The motley crew.

Before the return journey via Nefyn and Clynnog Fawr we climbed to the highest point over-looking Bardsey Sound.

So all in all a great day. We covered around 117km in around 7 hours. I will try to retain my fitness for the June 100km challenge on Anglesey in a couple of week.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Some Mothers Do Av Em!

To my mind  Michael Crawford who played Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do Av Em was a comic genius. I recall watching the show and coming close to dying with laughter as he roller skated under that lorry. Anyway, I had my own Frank moment this week. I was researching some health insurance policies (I will blog about this again), basically I was asking for a policy that might include treatment for  pre-existing condition. Not surprisingly no company is likely to offer such a product as it goes against the whole idea of insurance, and I felt silly asking. Afterwards I recalled Frank Spencer in that classic episode where he drove his car to the edge of the cliff; he hung on for dear life while the car tipped forward and back. With Frank then hanging onto the exhaust pipe Betty screamed for guidance: 'what shall I do, Frank'?. 'Call the AA', said her hapless husband . 'But we are not members,' said Betty. 'Tell them we will join,' replied Frank. I felt a little like that.

Tell them we'll join.

Sunday 6 May 2012

Cycling photos on the Brenig roads.

I rather like these photographs; thank you Alan:





The Llyn Aled cycle: probably the best ride in the world.

Rhyl Cycling Club's Sunday run was little short of amazing; I shall count it amongst my best rides ever. The weather was ideal for cycling with light winds and temperatures above ten degrees throughout. There was no cake stop, but so remote was much of the route that cake-emporiums did not exist. From Caerwys we descended to Rhuallt to meet with the group. Then via Abergele we climbed to the highest points of the Denbigh moors.

The descent to Denbigh was fast and exciting. However, I had come without my jelly-babies and 70 km or so on a small bottle of lucozade was hardly going to be enough; Craig came to the rescue with a power-gel. I had not had one before and the effects of the concentrated carbohydrate soon seeped through my body. The final pull up Caerwys hill was tackled and beer in the Piccadilly was the order of the day. Yet the power-gel had not finished with me as I had some disconcerting stomach cramps before the beer worked its magic. So overall a great day and thanks to the route designer and all the riders.

Look west young man.