Help

Help indeed! I was in Liskeard on Sunday night / Monday morning. I've seen the terrain and am wondering now if I can catch swine flu this week and so have an opportunity to get out of doing LEJoG. I knew Cornwall and Devon were not the flattest counties, but those hills are unneccessarily vicious. It was definitely a case of squeaky bum time.

Well, since my last post, I have just about finalised all my kit. I have even tried packing it in my back to ensure I can carry it all - and success, it all fits in easily enough. The weight of the kit isn't too bad, but it means I will not be taking much in the way of changes of clothing etc - sorry Jo, I'll not be in kit smelling of fabric softener when I meet you.

As always, another May Bank Holiday brings trips away from home, sometimes its football, sometimes its pleasure, but when its football, it is not usually pleasureable at this time of the season.

We went down to Cardiff on Saturday for a friend's 40th birthday party. It was an 80's themed party. I was able to just use my normal wardrobe. I knew having out of date clothing would come in useful one day! I definitely recommendan 80s theme for a fancy dress party - it was a good laugh, and there was some great music as well. Most women wore leg warmers and the like, the men wore a variety of outfits. There seemed to be rather a lot of "Frankie says..." T shirts in evidence. However, the 2 smurfs deserve a mention. The 80s night brought back lots of memories and stories, some of which really should be forgotten. We need a rule like Fight club, ie what happens in the 80's stays in the 80s.

Sadly, Jo & I had to leave early on Sunday morning, so missed the post party drinking session. We were heading off to Plymouth to see Barnsley in their last match of the season. If results went wrong, then Barnsley could be relegated. So we had a 160 mile drive down to Plymouth to get to meet friends in a pub before the game. We made it down to Plymouth before 12noon, found the opub and got a couple of pre match beers in. The football started off badly with Barnsley losing after 12 minutes, but fortunately their rivals for relegation forgot to turn up and were losing their game 3-0 inside 30 minutes, so it meant Barnsley would be safe, even if they lost. By early in the 2nd half, Barnsley were winning 2-1 and with them effectively safe, and Plymouth having nothing to play for, it meant that the rest of the game was just a kick about. Plymouth fans spent 45 minutes doing Mexican waves ( no swine flu worries for them?) and the players seemed to forget football was meant to be a competitive game! Post game we went to Liskeard where our friends had a cottage booked. The cottage comes complete with peacocks, a friendly dog/ horse that invites itself into the cottage. As for the food at the adjacent hotel... it was gorgeous and incredible sized portions. A good night was had by all - especially when we got back from meal, just in time to watch the Championship on TV and see the goals at Plymouth. The only downside to the day was Newcastle putting another nail in their relegation coffin. Never mind, its a trip to Barnsley next season for Newcastle!

Only 3 days of work left now before I set off for Penzance and the LEJoG commences.