Before taking a bit of gear up onto a hill we usually give it a bit of a 'try-out' somewhere a little safer in case its not 'up-to-it' for the higher places.
There are zillions of blogs out there that let us know about the performance of booties and cags, stoves and bags. The one thing that screws up all these bits of outdoor gear is water. Water makes us miserable. It dampens our drive and soaks our spirits.
So this weekend we took a priceless bit of kit out for a leak test.
The priceless bit of kit is one "Lord Elpus" of Elpus Hall. This gentleman has recently undergone a little bit radical kit re-design himself - by removing unwanted body parts in a fanciful flurry of the following the modern trend of going "lightweight."
His value to me is immeasurable. This gent has kept me on the straight and narrow for too many years to mention. He hauls me out of dodgy drinking dens at just the point when he is able and I am incapable. He gets to the point and persuades you that you can carry on with life when there seems absolutely no point to it all. He sees the sense in a business that seemingly has no sense to it at all.
He has lived with the same wonderful woman and amazingly persuaded her that he is 'worth it' for too many years to mention to spare Miss Whiplash's blushes.
He is a good bit of kit.
Well, on Saturday we took him out for a bit of a leak test to test the dodgy old repaired plumbing, at the Blogger's Meet at Don Pasquale's and the Eagle in Cambridge.
The lad came through with flying colours (Eagle eyes scanning for trouser damp spots) so I shall be taking him out on the Challenge next year.
Happy stuff , Alan. May your leaks never seriously develop till you're too old to be bothered anyway. Good to hear that Phil's plumbing is watertight as well. I was thinking about that only recently whilst hosing down the back yard.
ReplyDeleteReassuring....
Will there be a clone available via BPL any time soon?
ReplyDeleteIt works both ways Alan. Not only did you and Lynnie sit with me while Phil was being sliced and diced, but you even drove to the hospital and brought the patient home.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there were other places you could have dumped him!
Now, where's the halo polish......
...so I shall be taking him out on the Challenge next year...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, a tight hipbelt squashing and massaging his innards for days on end... and can he handle all the liquor at Montrose? (must be single malt in Scotland).
You write a blog!!, Let me explain that, i found you on the web 2 days before you started your long walk, and followed you all the way (great fun it was too). I was very mystified what a LEJOG was and then realized i was one too (hitch-hiked it in 3 1/2 days) Just under a year later i started my blog not realizing that i had ever read one before, until last week when i saw your name on Summit and valley. Thank you, you were an inspiration too me as i knew that i had got the idea to blog from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteTremendous! Good to see you two managing to take the waters in such harmonious fashion. You're getting a bit like Butch and Sundance, Hinge and Bracket, or Whyte and Mackay. Bleep & Booster...? I'll stop there!
ReplyDelete