A Drink Problem...

I don't know if you noticed it, but there has just been one hell of a winter. Up in Scotland it has been particularly severe, with the deer & sheep being hit badly as their grazing has been under feet of snow. They have died in far greater numbers than usual.

This means that it is important when taking water from normally clear streams to check for contamination from rotting carcases that may be upstream. With the TGO Challenge coming up in less than two weeks, I don't fancy getting any nasties to ruin my trip. For the first time in years and years I have decided to take a small water filter. Taking a leaf from the World's Greatest Gear Monster's book, this afternoon I have been on the blower to Uncle Bob at Backapackinglight Towers to order myself a Travel Tap. The benefit of this ingenious device is that it it is quick and easy to fill and then you can drink from it as you would a normal water bottle.

It's rather nice to have a bit of a brew at lunchtime, especially when walking with company. I have never managed to get to grips with floppy windshields; they always seem to fall over, get blown away or just get in the way of things generally.

I remember when walking with Robin last year in the Carneddau that he had a natty Primus windshield. Well, it re-emerged last weekend as Lord Elpus produced the same bit of kit.

It does it for me. My lunchtime brew will now be quicker to the boil and I stand less chance of burning my trousers / laces / sitmat etc etc...

Both these items can be bought from Bob's magnificent online emporium: Backapckinglight.co.uk

Phew! A post about gear! I think I shall go and have a lie-down now and recover from the shock... I might have a small whisky to calm the nerves.

Nip and Tuck

Wanda, snoozing on the recent Peebles ~ Moffat trip. Pitched as best as poss...

In a previous post, in the comments section, "Nielson Brown" asked how many nights Wanda had "done". His is a mean blog and so the reply needed to be considered and handled with care.

That meant I had to scratch the thinning pate and canter through the blog and my diary as not all trips are posted up on here - some are distinctly "Private - Keep Out!" [Get Orf My Land?]. But it was done and done well. Pocket calculators were employed in the process. Serious stuff.

The answer was a surprisingly low eighty three nights since Wanda came into my care and protection. Thirty seven nights in 2007. Just 19 nights in 2008. 21 nights in 2009 and so far this year; a miserable 6 nights. That figure will of course improve as the year progresses.

But yes. Wanda is a lightweight but amazingly strong young lady. This lass spits out Aktos into the dust, screaming "EAT MY SHORTS!" Pound for pound she is a prime prizefighter. The "Sugar Ray" of the tent world. Muscle. Style. Integrity. Room to spare.

But this comes at a price. I recently had to get to work on Wanda; to revitalise and refresh her worried brow. The upper vent elastic required a stitch or two. Her seams needed attention [her seams throw her silhouette into rapturous curves...] and her gossamer skin a little moisturiser. Her pelvic floor needed a little work (come on now; who's doesn't at our age?)

But on the Daunder I realised that one of Wanda's blind pole-pockets was no longer blind - her highly tempered pre-curved pole slipped all the way through the no longer blind pocket. But these are just trifles. Wanda has a summer cold ~ a little hay fever and a few well place stitches will restore her to her adolescent prime.

I foresee many, many happy years with my Wanda. When I took up with her, she was a risky venture. A complete unknown. A wayward madame. But now she is my assured companion. My haven in a storm. Big enough for a proper party. For company, if pressed.

So then: A Question to our Congregation: How many nights have you slept with your lady of the night? Is she good to you? Tell me your stories of faithful companionship by jotting a few notes in the comments. If you haven't commented before, do not be afraid; post anonymously. You do not need a Google / Blogger /Blog account. Just tell us who you are and all about your your nylon mistresses...

Wanda is waiting to hear your tales...

Delicious Daundering

Each May, some three hundred souls fling themselves, lemming-like, across Scotland on a barnstorming bimble comprising blisters, bogs, booze and general bonhomie. This is usually achieved at a blistering pace because Scotland is a Big Place and there is only a blink of an eye in which to cross the thing.

 

Then is not the time to discover that your boots are like blotting paper, your shelter doesn't like showers or your knees are knackered. You need a little walk beforehand as a bit of a shake-down. That way you find out you need to bin the boots, treat the tent and throw away all the heavy stuff from your rucksack.

 

And so eight of us congregated in Great Langdale on Friday morning. Seven were suffering silently from the effects of the night before in the ODG and the last to arrive always looks wrecked; it's his style. As mentioned in the introduction, the aim of the Daunder is to stretch sinews, make the pulse race just that little bit faster but to avoid breaking into a sweat at all costs. So after a frantic four minutes of daundering, we halted for morning coffee in the ODG hotel. And very comfy it was too.

 

Gerry (that's the fit looking bloke at the right of the picture, above) was again the timekeeper. This is an important position given the propensity of some of the newer Daunderers to set off at breakneck speeds with the great risk of personal injury. Not for me a posse of lawyers round my neck offering 'no win no fee' courtroom battles for compensation. No Sir! It fell to Gerry to ensure that more time would be spent resting than walking; the prerequisite of any Decent Daunder. His GPS flashed and crackled, fixing on dozens of NASA's finest satellites. He burned through countless batteries in his quest to keep the Daunder pure.

 

Our stats for the first leg, a hop over Stake Pass, happily kept well within the remit. Less than 1 mph for the day.

Lord Elpus

Pieman

JJ & HMP3

 

The pub at Stonethwaite is a little cracker and so after being the last to leave we retired to the campsite for a livener until far too late for our own good.

 

The next morning, unusually for a Daunder, had a brutal start to it: The pub was shut.

 

So there was nothing else but to get on with the day, staggering up unfeasibly steep hillsides under our burden of headache and heartburn. Old ladies queued and tutted, behind us as we laboured up the mountain. A coach-load of gurls did likewise. Like true gentlemen, we let them pass. We rested in accordance with Gerry's matrix, ensuring that we should not set off after a rest stop until we had been resting more than we had been walking.

 

Eagle Crag

 

We darted by Dock Tarn, lunched on Lord's How and sidled up Low & High Saddles. Ullscarf was scaled and High Raise risen to. We were Daunderers on fire! The scenery form Sergeant Man was quite gorgeous and so you can see what we saw, below: (That's Stickle Tarn down there.)

 

 

We beetled down Blea Rigg and dropped off to pitch our Wendy Houses beneath Belles Knott as some blighters had already bagged Codale Tarn. Gerry assured us that our average speed was now well below the dangerous 1mph limit we had set ourselves. You see, at that speed, the human frame can diffract, with all sorts of unpleasantness. There would be no need for all that expense of the Hadron Collider over in Europe's other mountainous place. Think of it as saving thousands of physicists' jobs. We ate Norwegian stews of Wolfish and Pasta Provence - from either France or Italy. Or perhaps Norway too.

 

We drank what remained of the flasks and went to bed completely knackered after (for us, mind you) a dodgily delightful BigDay. In the night, the Met Office (bless the little bastards) got it horribly wrong once again and it rained. My beautiful view down to Rydal Water in the morning got about 0.15% of the way to Rydal - more or less to Phil's tent.

 

We had a pub to catch for lunchtime and so we clambered in reasonable order back up to Blea Rigg and  down and down and down in the clouds to Stickle Tarn. It was as well that the cloud lifted temporarily as otherwise we would have walked straight into it.

 

Down into misty Great Langdale

The pub was duly caught and they served us beer and food for an early lunch. Gerry very proudly proclaimed that the Daunder's Stats were in good hands and safe from any danger of over-heating.

 

I am now home, safe and well. Wanda requires a few stitches and the rucksack requires lightening. I shall be going back to my old trusted Scarpa Nepals for the TGO Challenge. These fabric booties don't offer sufficient protection to my delicate tootsies.

 

Many thanks to this year's intake of Doddery Daunderers. You know who you all are. "You've all done very well!"

Woo Hoo! Offski!

That's me done for the week. Lord Elpus is thundering down the A14 as I type, his Swedish War Machine bellowing and bearing down on the cars in front so they melt from his path.

I am packed (I am sure I have again packed too much food, but hey! it's Chally training so it cannot do too much harm.) All up weight is 13kg with everything on board bar the kitchen sink. I am taking full Chally gear (spare trousers, shirt, lightweight shoes, pants, loads of socks, down jacket & massive first aid kit) and it all fits in the 48 litre Exos comfortably.

So far so good. Just the walking to do then.

More later if there's a signal. Toodle pip!

16th Annual PreWalkDaunder

2005 Daunderers

Thursday will see nine TGO Challengers head for the hills for the 16th Annual PreWalkDaunder.

Typically, the Daunder takes place a couple of weeks before the Great Outdoors Challenge and is made up of Challengers in need of a bit of an airing, to get a little bit fitter (or perhaps a lot fitter, in my particular case) and to make sure all their kit is up to scratch prior to the main event. That way, if anything is found to be wanting then there is still time to change the set-up.

When organised properly it takes on all the obstacles to be found on a Challenge:

• Raging Torrents
• Raging Thirsts
• Steep up-hilly bits
• Steep down-hilly bits
• Bogs
• Beer
• Walking
• Whisky

In typical Challenge fashion, we have had years when the Daunder has suffered from wall to wall sunshine. We have endured freezing nights, huddled together like penguins for warmth in the piercing cold to share the flasks. There has been whole Daunders when the rain did not stop. But Daunderers are selected with care. No wimps on the Daunder. No bottling out on a Daunder.

2006 Daunderers

This year, special mention must be made of our tenth, the missing Daunderer; Rich, who cannot be with us as he is currently stranded by the Icelandic Volcano, having to slum it in some swanky hotel in Uganda. He is slowly drinking his way through the cocktail menu and will miss his trip enormously. We shall raise our glasses to him on Thursday night.

And probably Friday and Saturday night too. And Sunday lunchtime. It is a true rehearsal for the Challenge, all said and done...

Findin' the Shielin: Part 2

or.... Where's Wally?

The previous post has set me thinking - I really enjoy being helpful. So; here's another helpful picture for you all, to help you find the Shielin.

I know. Too kind.

Findin' the Shielin

There will be a number of TGO Challengers for whom finding the Shielin of Mark, a little bothy in the Eastern Highlands, will be a major test of their navigational skills.

The Shielin is a little stone building with one door and window tucked under a bank in the hills east of Loch Muick. A little piece of loveliness in a wide and empty landscape. It's a wonderful spot with a bubbling little stream for company and wonderful views of Mount Keen in the distance.

(You know you can click on the map to make it bigger & easier to see...)

You can see it here, more or less in the middle of the map. Most Challengers will be heading towards it from the Spittal. You can see the way you would take, can't you? It's not tricky, is it?

By 'eck though! Every year there are reports of how difficult it is to find the blessed thing; having to wade their way across appalling peat hags in trackless terrain, and in the cold wind and rain an' all!

Good grief! It really is a doddle to find and the peat hags are kids stuff.

Anyway. The next snap should help these navigationally challenged Challengers. Now, take a good look and remember exactly where it is. That way you can't miss it... (That's Lochnagar in the background btw)

This is the new helpful, fluffy, cuddly Al signing off...

Two old boys having a good time

When I were a lad...this one always made me happy.

More on TGO Challenge Preparations

It's all go here at Mission Control (that's my little office upstairs, that is...) as I try to get all the bits and bobs together that I usually forget to organise until it's too late. I must have too much time on my hands.

So - I now have half a dozen more packets of Real Turmat dehydrated top quality nosh and some really tasty fruity bars, care of Chris at Outdoors Grub with TGO Challengers' 10% discount applied. Thanks Chris - this stuff is like Gold Dust as it leaves the shelf very quickly. I would suggest that if you need some, to get your order in quickly with Chris.

I also have, care of the wizards over at Backpackinglight.co.uk, a new 'day food' Exped XS bag (that goes in the lid of the pack so that I don't have to open the pack in the inevitable pouring rain during the walking day), a tiny little bottle of disinfectant hand-gel and, at last, a Thermarest puncture Repair kit for my NeoAir, just in case - it would be horrid to sleep on the cold hard ground when I could be floating on a lovely thick, warm & squidgey mattress.

But Bob & Rose also very kindly sent me a little bottle of "SkitoStop" - a bite relief gel. If ever you have been bitten by cleggs you will know how important this is! Thanks Bob - very sweet of you.

New socks have been bought from OpenAir in Cambridge to match the free pair they gave me to test: Teko extra extra cushioned. Very comfy they are too! Thanks go to Guy for the free pair!

Next up - to go through the aging first-aid kit to chuck away the incredibly out of date stuff and replenish the used up stuff as well. It's all go here, you know!

The PreWalkDaunder last final farewell tour reminders have gone out [the Lake District this year] to all the Daunderers this afternoon. I wonder if anyone will reply or will I end up chasing them all by phone again.... That is in a week's time, so I have to sort everything out by then. I wonder what else I need to get done? There's always something I forget...

A Weighty Matter

It is not as though I haven't done this before as I have walked across Scotland on the TGO Challenge some fifteen times.

There are now just 32 days before Lord Elpus and I set out from Lochailort on the West coast of Scotland to walk in an easterly direction for two weeks, when we have to stop or drown in the North Sea. Ordinarily, at this point in each year, I am wondering how on earth I am going to manage. I will not have done anywhere near enough training to get fit for the walk, I will have absolutely no idea where all my gear is; it will be somewhere in the house, but will be scattered to the four corners and be in various states of unwashedness and disrepairedness.

I probably won't know what kit I will be taking with me or even if it will fit into the smaller and smaller rucksack that I seem to carry each year.

However, for a change, things seem to be going unusually smoothly!

Training walks have been planned and the plans have mostly been kept to. Little things that required to be ordered from outdoor emporia have indeed been ordered and have either been delivered or are in transit.

Bits of worn-out kit have been replaced with more modern, lighter versions and old favourite bits of kit refurbished and made as good as new. One such favourite bit of kit is Wanda, my Stephensons Warmlite 2C tent.

As mentioned previously, Wanda has had a bit of a spruce-up.  She has had a good wash behind her ears, her seams have been straightened and sealed with magnificent, clear & gloopy seam sealer. She was then given a really good all-over shampoo with some Nikwax tent re-proofer. Her groundsheet (quite slippery sil-nylon) has been daubed liberally with seam sealer in little regular spots to give grip to my NeoAir mattress for the slopier campspots. She has a brand new MSR Blizzard 10" tent stake for her rear pegging point that I know she will simply adore.

But in a similar fashion to her keeper, Wanda's improvements have brought about a problem. She too seems to be growing a problem belly. With all these super-dooper improvements Wanda has put on a little bit of weight. She now tips the scales at a surprisingly corpulent 1404 grams. Okay, that is with all her stuff sacks, big fat new pegs and new improved resplendent water-tightness and grippiness.

But the new shirt (80 grams less than the old shirt), the new-found deodorant (78 grams saving over the old type) more than make up for Wanda's portly poundage. And of course, the new menu plan should save kilos of weight.

With a sigh of relief I can confidently predict that Wanda and I will continue to enjoy each other's company into our more padded years of backpacking.

Wanda gets a Wash'nWax

It's dark and she's out there, all on her own. But she's getting better.

Wanda had been parked on the filthiest campsite in Christendom (Coniston Hall) last year and a with a muddy finish to the Southern Uplands last weekend, Wanda was now a very, very, dirty girl.

Now, ordinarily, I can find absolutely nothing wrong with a dirty girl; in fact the dirtier the better! But Wanda needed her seems seeing-to and this was not going to be done with them slathered in sludge. For the first time in three years, it was time for Wanda to take a wash.

Into the washing machine at 30 degrees on a 'Silk' wash and 38 minutes later she was being pitched in the back garden to dry out.

Now, seam sealing a tent sounds so simple when reading the instructions. "Apply in thin film across taut threads and under folds. Let dry for 3 - 6 hours." What could be simpler than that?

I am sitting here in the warm, on the settee and as I type this; my twenty three fingers sticking to the keyboard. There is seam sealer on my keyboard. Seam sealer in the sink. Seam sealer all over the place on Wanda, indeed, some of which even on her seams. Seam sealer - the spawn of Satan. Tomorrow she'll get some nice new moisturiser to make her skin even more supple and waterproof.

So right now Wanda's out there, curing; getting better.

How not to go "Lightweight"...

Big Darren visited yesterday and upon entering the kitchen and seeing the table covered in backpacking food asked where I was planning to go.

You see, the thing is, this was just the food I had brought back from my adventures on the Southern Uplands last weekend... I had wondered why my pack was so heavy, at 30lbs. I had put it down to the extra coats I had taken for the cold weather (and I have to say I really was glad of them all as I do feel the cold!). But in reality it was carrying too much food.

I brought back home:

• 6 Granola Bars (282g)
• 2 x 100g bars of 'Hotel Chocolat' scrummy chocolate
• 5 Marathon Snickers bars (290g)
• 72g of orange fizzy drink tablets in their container
• 1 x mightily large double-decker cheese and tomato roll (265g)
• 1 x 46g bag of expensive crisps (Pipers - yum)
• 1 x 78g pack of custard
• 1 x 182g Real Turmat meal
• 4 x packets of "Butter Buds" (hardly anything)
• 140g of sugar & coffee
• 93g of hot chocolate
• 95g of tuna
• 257g of honey roasted cashews
• 85g of cuppa-soups
• 170g of whisky(not including the flask)

That's a whopping 2255g or five whole proper pounds!

So, okay, we cut the walk short by a dinner and breakfast (taken at the Tibbie Shiel's Inn and a lunch not eaten. That would take care of 1 Real Turmat (182g), I cuppa-soup (29g), I custard (78g) [that's dinner] and 2 Granola bars (95g) and a few grams of coffee & sugar and orange tablet (20g?);[breakfast] and the cheese roll (265g) and 1 granola bar (48g) and I Marathon ((59g); [lunch]. That would have cut it down by 776g.

That still means I was carrying 1450g or 3lbs 3 ozs in real money too much grub!

I could have been carrying just 27lbs on setting out with two and a half days food and electric water for a winter trip.

I must do a menu plan for my next trip...

Southern Upland Snaps.

I thought I would lob in some of the rejects as they are better than the snaps I usually take; shame to waste 'em! They are 'clickable' to make them bigger...

Border Hills Repel Southern Interlopers

That was the header of an email that Ian Shiel sent to the weekend's walkers. As Ian put it:

Aye Lads, "Sent Hame Tae Think Again"!

I must confess for time of year snow conditions were almost as bad as I've known them. Perhaps in 1963 things were still as bad in April and certainly worse even though I only have vague childhood memories of it and a few family photos 1947 but as Croydon would say "that were a 'ard winter."

Ian had also provided transport for His Holiness, the Incredibly Irreverend Dave and a wonderful selection of bottled beers (ooh the Black Douglas was particularly gorgeous and the Belhaven 80/- wonderfully drinkable) for the dejected party. It was great to see an all round great bloke in such fine form.

Saturday afternoon

View from Wanda, Saturday evening 

As I have written previously, we had planned to depart on Monday morning at 7:00am - which had meant a 5:30 wake-up for me. I have no idea why - it just does take me that long! The night had started below freezing and drop-dead still and we are inside our tents fast asleep before ten on Sunday night.

During the night however, all hell was let loose, with Wanda getting a damn good thrashing with grapeshot and winds like a camel-collapse. I slept fitfully and was mightily relieved when at about six in the morning I heard Mike having a conversation, between his beard and the splattering rain, with Phil, the nub of which was that we were throwing in the towel.

Quite right too: The idea of struggling over twenty miles against that dreadful maelstrom with snow and mud chucked in for good measure was not one that filled me with the joys of spring.

(You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger)

Obviously, the three pictures above are from Sunday - but you get the idea about the snow.

So staring defeat in the face, we sploshed into Tibbie Shiel's Inn for a great breakfast and a warm welcome to arrange transport home. This is a great pub and we will definitely go back there, just for the warmth of the reception.

Poor Dave had managed to get away from all his duties tending to his flock only to have to return home with just a drink in the pub and a wild night out on the shores of a loch. Still - the walk will still be there when hopefully the snow and shocking weather will have gone and we can have another stab at it.

Thanks must go to Mike for organising a great break - albeit one which we, quite rightly, abandoned!

Peebles to Moffat: Day 2: Evening, Tibbie Shiel's Tea Room

 

Well then. That was actually quite tough. The observant amongst the congregation will have twigged that things are not where they should be. The Megget Stone has been shifted to Tibbie Shiel's.

 

On account of the snow.

 

There is tons of the stuff! We have stumbled from deep hole to deep hole up to our armpits at time. It's exhausting stuff, And - I am a Flatlander. But we are made of sterling stuff. Forged in the fires of ... well,... Windsor.

 

So, after scaling Birkscairn (that's about 27,000 feet up, that is) we slid (often sliding desperately) around the sides of hills and down, down down through the depths of a snow clogged forest to a wonderful Rover Road.... Which was itself under yet more snow..

 

But we're 'ard, and stumbled on until we finally won through to the mud of the Southern Upland Way.

 

But now we are safe and well and in a tea room. We have been joined by Ian Shiel and His Holiness, The Incredibly Irreverend Dave. Fish cakes and roast potatoes have been ordered.

 

All is well with the world.

Peebles to Moffat: Day 1: Evening

So, you were not expecting a report tonight, were you? i am surprised myself, but as we are squintillion zillions of feet up in the air, I think we must be hooked into satellite communications.

We eventually left Weebles after lunch and then started climbing ~ straight into snow. The stuff actually only looks sketchy at first glance but when you suddenly lurch / plummet downwards up to your goolies you realise it's a bit trickier than you first thought.

On the very few stretches that were snow-free we fairly scampered up hill. But the bulk of the walking has been taking it in turns to bash out a path whilst everyone else literally follows in your footsteps.

Hard going indeed! So we are camped up in the snow in as best a spot as we can find. A couple of miles short of our planned destination. The sunset was lovely and Peebles far below is now all lit up. A light drizzle on Wanda's cheeks as I have a wee taste of Glenlivet.

Tomorrow looks like being quite a tough day.

Peebles to Moffat: Day 1: Lunchtime

The Pieman & Hump3

The Bridge Inn, Peebles.

Currently sitting with real ales (!) in the pub with the Chally's Best Dressed Man, HUMPH3. It's warm and they have chairs in here & Chelsea are about to lose to Man U. I think we might have some food. The clan is all assembled now for the first phase: Big Tony, Little Mike, Lord Elpus and a hanger-on (me).

This walking lark. It's tough.

Peebles to Moffat: Day 1: Breakfast

Over the breakfast table we found ourselves (well, okay, I found myself) having the same discussion as we had had in the pub yesterday evening. It was mundane stuff ~ estimating the revenue of the campsite over this particular Bank Holiday weekend.

Phil very kindly stopped me after I had rambled on a bit and kindly noted that it happily avoided the intellectual strain of dealing with a new topic so I was to carry on and that way both parties would be comfortable.

We are now off to pack the tents and packs and shoot off to find the Pieman, It's not raining out there.

All is well with the world.

The Star Hotel Bar, Moffat

Currently sitting in the warm in one of the narrowest hotels in Scotland with Lord Elpus with two pints of Criffel. (Lord Elpus has suggested that this is a very useful name for a pint as you can ask for it when you are slaughtered.)

Agnes & Wanda are parked on soft ground in the cold at the campsite. Our bottoms are parked on soft chairs in the warm near the bar.

It is not raining. The hills above Moffat are clad in their wedding dresses. All is well with the world!

www: Wet Weather Weight

This Bank Holiday's walk looks like being a cold and wet one.

So I have packed for the very worst conditions! Unusually for me, I have "double bagged" the precious stuff - a rucksack liner (albeit a bit old and strained) with the delicates in their own Exped bags. I just can't afford to get soaked on this walk as it's exposed and it looks like we'll be walking into sleet, rain and wind for most of it.

Who said this walking lark was fun then?

Coats: I like coats - have packed a synthetic-filled gilet, a thin windproof soft shell, my beautiful PHD Minimus down jacket and my new "Stealth" Paramo Velez Adventure. Between that lot I should be warm and dry enough. (Famous last words?)

Legs: Nice thick stretchy trousers, Berghaus Paclite overtrousers and also - a first for years for me, some proper Goretex gaiters. (I am not sure if there is going to be loads of snow on the tops)

Sleeping: My custom built PHD beautiful down bag (based on a 400 Minimus but with 450g of down), my lightweight bivi bag (just 200g) and my full length NeoAir matress.

Tent: Wanda. (Natch) But she does leak ever so slightly as I haven't fixed that leaky seam...! The bivi bag will sort that, Along with a J-cloth.

Boots: My Salomon Quest 4D-GTX. They should cope ok.

Poles: My beautiful Gossamer Gear Lightrek poles.

Food: I always take enough to feed an army, especially in the cold, but principally based on Real Turmat supplemented with cheese sandwiches and Granola bars, cuppa-soups, chocolate bars, more chocolate bars and custard for puds. And whisky: Yes. Of course.

Phew! All up weight? 30 lbs. Not too bad... All we have to do is just get there now and get out and do it... Ooo Err!