Daily Grind Wonderings, wanderings and waffle

Spotted (!):

Taken by a passenger.

Booked three months in South America, summary:

- Stunning Costa Verde coastline on the Atlantic rainforest
- Atacama Desert
- Salar de Uyuni with 4×4 trip across the Bolivian altiplano
- Santiago
- Guided tour of Chan Chan & the Moche pyramids
- Boat ride on the Amazon River
- Flight across the Andes to Iquitos on the Amazon River
- Jungle town of Iquitos
- Argentine & Chillean lake district
- Pacific coast & beaches
- Pucon & optional volcano climb Bariloche
- Paracas National Park
- Carratera Austral
- Boat trip to Ballestos Islands
- Condor spotting at the Colca Canyon
- Moreno glacier
- 3 days in Torres del Paine National Park, including trek
- Sacred Valley of the Incas (already done, so might skip)
- Grey Glacier, lakes & icebergs
- Cusco & entry to local sights (already done, so might skip)
- Camerones penguin colonies
- Patagonian Steppes
- Fully supported trek on the ‘official’ Inca Trail (already done, so will skip)
- Guided tour of Machu Picchu (already done, so will skip)
- Gaiman Welsh Patagonian town
- Buenos Aires
- Guided trip on the Peninsula Valdez
- Sillustani funery towers
- Argentine Pampas
- La Paz
- Scenic train ride through the Andes
- Potosi - world’s highest city
- 3 day trip to remote jungle lodge (includes all meals)All activities at the lodge
- Iguassu Falls
- Jesuit Missions
- Rio de Janeiro (carnival is on, when I go)
- Pirate boat trip around tropical bays & islands of Parati

Getting fast shooting pains in my left hip today. I’m slowly falling to bits.

Last night I had a dream that somebody shot me three times in the chest, then later I met the same person and they shot me again.

A theory here : Dream Dictionary.

I dislike people who are rude to staff in restaurants, for no reason. Yesterday somebody kept pestering the staff for his drink order - after he’d only placed it five minutes prior. I felt like telling him to make it himself, if he was that desperate.

Finally got back at 1.20am after leaving Twickenham at 8pm. Nightmare of a trip - faults on the line, engineering works, heavy rain. Should have taken no more than two hours maximum.

Shame Fiji didn’t really turn up for the final, giving NZ a relatively easy game. Here’s the scoreline with a minute to go:

And here’s an amusing picture of somebody drinking a few too many drinks:

Bit ashamed of what I ate yesterday: duck spring rolls, Cornish pasty at the stadium and two slices of pizza waiting for the bus back in Oxford.

There were a group of horsey-girls on the train from Reading to Twickenham. Platform 4a at Reading is one-way-only - uses buffers. One of the girls said “which way will the train be going?”, makes you wonder sometimes. By horsey-girls - I mean ones with affluent parents, kids have to do nothing to get lots of money. You can imagine they all had Prada vibrators.

Time to venture out to Twickenham today, for the Rugby 7s. It looks like it might be similar weather to the Dubai one - rain!! England didn’t even make the final stages, losing to Wales 22:0 in the first stages I hope that Fiji and Samoa excite today.

What do you say to somebody whose dad has just died? I can’t even think how I would react to my own dying. Saying “I’m sorry” just seems too reactionary a response, you’re not sorry as you had nothing to do with the death.

Why are some people always bitter, always acerbic and sarcastic? The last one applies to me and I sometimes can’t stop myself. I find myself saying something and regretting it afterwards. The only times I do say something it’s negative. Some people find it funny but I think maybe I’m just being humoured.

I think that solitude is the only destination for me. That way I don’t disappoint those around me.

Money leads to pseudo-happiness. If the underlying person is unhappy, then money makes zero difference. Surround yourself with superficial objects - you’re still the same person.

I’ve been thinking about buying into a bookshop somewhere (when I get back from travels). My German friend has his eye on one in Bremen, which I’ve offered to help out financially with! More of a pipe-dream at the moment, but I think computing/IT is a dead-end avenue for me now; especially programming.

ps. Maybe with café as well.