(no subject)
Climbing went pretty well last night. I stuck to the 5As (the easy ones), but the last climb of the night was a lead climb, which is when you take the rope up with you clip in to the wall as you go. It was still a 5A climb, so the handholds were easy, but it's a much longer climb (12m) than the top-rope routes (where there is already a rope hanging from the top), and it was on a slight backwards incline. But I did it! \o/
There's a new sushi place opened in town. It's part of a chain, and although the presentation is very snappy, it's more expensive and just not quite as good as Yen. Yen > Yo. Which is good, because Yen is independent, and I like supporting independent places when I can.
I also scoped out a relatively new cafe, JikaJika. It's big and airy, and feels a bit funky. The food looks great (I only had a bit of flapjack, which was delicious) and, wait for it, they do Flat Whites. More to the point, they do good Flat Whites. HALLELUJAH. Because it turns out that it's not just nostalgia talking, New Zealand coffee really is that much better. But these guys meet my Standards For Coffee.
One of the ladies at work (OK, I don't work there anymore, but you know what I mean) is having a leaving lunch tomorrow, and wants me to go. I'm a little dubious. I kind of don't want to go back, but I like her and she was really supportive when I needed support. Ah, well. I shall just put my Big Girl Panties on and deal with it. It's not as though I don't like any of the people there. Just some of them. >_>
The garden is starting to look like less of a wilderness. It's amazing how overgrown it can get in just a few weeks!
In other news, the Conservative Culture Secretary is talking about reducing funding for the BBC. It used to be that we needed commercial media to protect us from the Government. These days we need Government funded media to protect us from gross commercialism. I hardly ever watch live TV, but I am happy to pay my TV licence fee (£11-12 per month) to have a station that a) doesn't have ads and b) will stand up for its right to screen things like Jerry Springer: The Musical. I don't care about the show itself, I care that the BBC used its funding to push some boundaries.
The thing that is particularly concerning is the inference that he is nosing around reducing the TV Licence, but finding ways to charge for watching things online. DO NOT WANT.
From the Guardian:
Hunt stressed his commitment to the licence fee. But he warned: "The way we collect it may have to be rethought, because technology is changing, a lot of people are watching TV on their PCs.
"We're not going to introduce a PC licence fee and that is something that I do need to have discussions with the BBC to see what their ideas are."
Other links:
From the Tory Blog website
From the BBC
From the Telegraph
It's under discussion here at
ontd_political
Brits, there's a a prompt for contacting your MP here, should you wish to do so.
There's a new sushi place opened in town. It's part of a chain, and although the presentation is very snappy, it's more expensive and just not quite as good as Yen. Yen > Yo. Which is good, because Yen is independent, and I like supporting independent places when I can.
I also scoped out a relatively new cafe, JikaJika. It's big and airy, and feels a bit funky. The food looks great (I only had a bit of flapjack, which was delicious) and, wait for it, they do Flat Whites. More to the point, they do good Flat Whites. HALLELUJAH. Because it turns out that it's not just nostalgia talking, New Zealand coffee really is that much better. But these guys meet my Standards For Coffee.
One of the ladies at work (OK, I don't work there anymore, but you know what I mean) is having a leaving lunch tomorrow, and wants me to go. I'm a little dubious. I kind of don't want to go back, but I like her and she was really supportive when I needed support. Ah, well. I shall just put my Big Girl Panties on and deal with it. It's not as though I don't like any of the people there. Just some of them. >_>
The garden is starting to look like less of a wilderness. It's amazing how overgrown it can get in just a few weeks!
In other news, the Conservative Culture Secretary is talking about reducing funding for the BBC. It used to be that we needed commercial media to protect us from the Government. These days we need Government funded media to protect us from gross commercialism. I hardly ever watch live TV, but I am happy to pay my TV licence fee (£11-12 per month) to have a station that a) doesn't have ads and b) will stand up for its right to screen things like Jerry Springer: The Musical. I don't care about the show itself, I care that the BBC used its funding to push some boundaries.
The thing that is particularly concerning is the inference that he is nosing around reducing the TV Licence, but finding ways to charge for watching things online. DO NOT WANT.
From the Guardian:
Hunt stressed his commitment to the licence fee. But he warned: "The way we collect it may have to be rethought, because technology is changing, a lot of people are watching TV on their PCs.
"We're not going to introduce a PC licence fee and that is something that I do need to have discussions with the BBC to see what their ideas are."
Other links:
From the Tory Blog website
From the BBC
From the Telegraph
It's under discussion here at
ontd_political
Brits, there's a a prompt for contacting your MP here, should you wish to do so.