Flat Earth

What is this, another entry in a week, must be losing it. Anyway received an email from a travel buddy last night asking if I knew anybody free to visit Colombia in the winter - nudge nudge hint hint. Sounds good to me, trouble is, Colombia even though it is much safer than it used to be still makes Afghanistan look like a stroll in the park, so I will give it a miss. Yellow bellied chicken shit that I am.

As usual it has been a long time since my last blog entry and it could well be another long time before the next one.

But anyway what has been happening. The company I work for merged (taken over) with a huge Danish company. oads of redundancies, I survived. Work was dead for months and months but now it is totally manic. Another factory was closed, the work came to us. So for once in my worklife things went my way. I'm usually the first out of the door. Nobody was exactly overjoyed when we heard what was to happen as 300 people were to lose their jobs. Never a pleasant thing for anybody, I know it has happened to me more times than I care to remember. And no payrise this year, tight bastards!!!!

So what have I been up to. Had a visit to Finland last summer, around midsummer, gorgeous. Why I left I still don't know. Good to see old friends and family.

Then Panama early this year for some birdwatching and plenty of bugs. Well worth a visit, more expensive than most other places in Latin America but if I can afford it then most folk can.

Where to next? No idea really. Would love to go to Kenya for a walking birdwatching safari. Being stuck in a vehicle for 2 weeks does not appeal at all, hence the walking. If that doesn't happen due to lack of other people wanting to do the same then perhaps a visit to Istanbul for history and bird migration in September. Early days yet :-)

Anybody in need of a job wil be pleased to hear that there will be about 650 vacancies in Westminster soon.

bye for now

A thought for you to ponder for a while.

I ordered some books from Amazon.co.uk yesterday morning. They arrived this morning just a few minutes ago. No problem there quite normal but having tracked the progress of the package I am amazed at the speed. It apparently left Glasgow this a.m. at 07.26 and arrived here in Lincolnshire at 10:08. So how far is it from Glasgow to here and what would be the required speed of a Transit van down the M6, M62, M18, M180 etc to get here in 2 hours and 42 minutes. The van must have an amazing nitrous system, several turbos, superchargers etc etc and an effective radar system. Plus of course factor in an obligatory tea break, pit stop over the Pennines...... he must have been flying :-) Or the parcel tracking system is telling porkies :-)

Hi folks

I've been having a rather quiet time with very little to write about hence the total lack of comments for so long.

I finally made it to the Amazon rainforest and stayed in an expensive lodge to savour the natural delights of the area. Having been totally spoiled rotten I will now probably never want to go anywhere ever again (yeah right). Today I finished uploading the last of several hundred trip photos including some genuine monsters, a huge worm, enormous larvae and some other cuties. For those of a nervous disposition don't look, hairy spiders, big creepy crawlies etc galore :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adiroyle/sets/72157603861908862/

I don't know what came over me but all of a sudden two stacks of books appeared and I was photographing them;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46984194@N00/1440126022/

What's the hurry?

Here is a link to my latest pics;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46984194@N00/

I've been attempting to photograph people instead of insects. Makes a nice change, what shall I try next?

ttfn

Yeah, how long has it been since I wrote anything on here, quite a while - April was the last entry. Why nothing for so long? My mind has been on other things and still is, so it could be quite a long time before I write again, or not. I might get into the habit again or I might not. But loads of photos have been taken, plenty of books have been bought and read, others arrived yesterday and are collecting some dust before they will be suitable to be read. I got seriously into biographies of the seriously famous megastars of history, not just some historical wannabees; Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Cook, Stanley, Stalin, quite a few of which are left handed. Some older well dusted books had to go first, down to the charity shops in town for somebody else to enjoy and dust. So if you want some like new, old, cheap books try the Oxfam shop in Louth.

ttfn

As I was waiting this morning for a courier delivery I started and finished a book. Yes you've guessed it, the courier didn't exactly get here early. Anyway the book was "The Alchemist" as previously mentioned on here. Only 150 or so pages of very easy reading.Certainly an interesting read, very entertaining, in fact almost right up my street. A little too much spirituality for my liking but within my tolerance levels. Some memorable lines with deep meaning which I used at work today. With no fiction left to read I started on Alexander The Great this afternoon. Only about 500 pages and another 60 or so of notes etc. but I'm in no hurry. Five weeks before my next trip abroad so that should do nicely. But then there is the problem of what to read for 2 weeks while away. I shouldn't even be thinking of a book to read as I will be travelling with 5 other birdwatchers and should actually consider socialising with them. I should even leave my specs at home.

As Louth is devoid of book shops and a drive into Lincoln or Grimsby didn't appeal, I ordered a few books from Amazon. The order started out as one book -"The Alchemist" but as p&p would have cost as much as the book I ordered a couple more so as to get the free delivery service. Sounds a bit daft but I like to have my money's worth. Like women in a shoe store, don't even try to begin to understand, a pointless exercise. But anyway what else did I order; a serious history book "Alexander The Great" by Robin Lane Fox and "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. I've been trying to remember where I heard about this last one. Must have been on here, maybe Znethru's blog, so being a devout atheist of long standing I thought I'd give it a whirl. But in the meantime I've started an Asimov collection of short stories - Robot Visions, another book which has been collecting dust since its last reading.

It was third time lucky, I finished it yesterday, although I realised long before the end that the previous two attempts to read the whole book were two attempts too many. I must state that as far as literature is concerned I am an ignorant peasant and my opinions mean nothing but I found it to be a dull read, no excitement, no great adventure, no sex, no violence, no car chases, no gadgets, just a dull read about a conman, so probably a more lifelike tale of spying.

Next read could be "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho recommended by a Finnish friend who first read it in French before it was a bestseller. So that is a Brazilian author, Finnish recommendation of a French translation of a Portugeuse language book to be read by an Englishman with a Scottish bookmark. To complicate matters the story takes place in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. I wonder if i will like it, there is the possibility that I could actually enjoy it....... mmmm, now to find a copy, none available in the shops here. Will have to go online.