Embedding BBC Weather Feeds

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The Pool I didn't use.

The Pool I didn't use., originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Although the outside pool looked very tempting it was actually way too cold to brave. This is taken at 7:45 in the morning Saturday as I was leaving.

Conference in Portugal

Conference in Portugal, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Hotel

Hotel, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Towards the sunshine.

Towards the sunshine., originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Now that's more like it, sunshine over the Bay of Biscay. True it's at 32,000' and it's probably minus 60 deg C outside but it looks nice especially compared to soggy snow in Munich. Expecting 12 deg in Faro and grey overcast skys.
This plane is full of oldies off for some cheap hols and no home heating in sunny Portugal. Looking at the rows of heads in front of me, I'm on the back row, I now see why it's called the 'grey market'. The in-flight movie is Mr. Bean, thank god for iPod, thank you Steve. This month's Wired Magazine has an article on the 25th birthday of the Apple Mac written by Steven Levey, Jobs is their cult idol methinks. Apparently Mac users are now into double figures! And Microsoft's 'I'm a PC' advertising campaign cost around $300,000,000. They're rattled, no kidding. (Mark you have a lot to answer for).

Munich

Munich, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Stuck on the tarmac at Munich airport, sat onboard the aircraft which is rapidy becoming like a long thin igloo, watching the snow ploughs going up and down the runway/taxiway, wondering if we'll ever take off. I know I wanted snow but this is a little inconvenient when I'm supposed to be on my way to sunny Portugal.

more banquet

more banquet, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

banquet

banquet, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Anne, Clive at the Aladdin Banquet in Munich

Aladdin Conference

Aladdin Conference, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

The Aladdin Vendor Conference in Munich.

Munich

Munich, by rantoutloud.

Traditional fare, sod the training for one day!

Cold Cure : Runnin the HHR

Better than Cough Medicine

After more than a week off or rather a week without exercise and only just shaken off the cold a blast around the extended run was called for; or so I thought!
Well all I can say is it's probably cheaper than any expectorant cough medicine and more rapid acting, it even tastes nice.

Yesterday's longer run was a bit of a nightmare though; in terms of timing and performance even if it really did clear the tubes. It must have worked though as today I almost managed the basic HHR (I thought I'd better be a little less ambitious than yesterday) at a non stop jog. I still can't get past the salt bin marker on the initial backup incline without having to break into a walk for 50m or so.

So that's the target for the next month, getting all the way down and up the HHR at a minimum of a slow jog, non stop continuous running. Possible as long as the weather holds off. Oh and I'm maybe doing some fair weather training in Portugal in a weeks time courtesy of Utimaco.

Cold Cure : Hot Cherry Chillies

Hot Cherry Chillies, originally uploaded by rantoutloud.

Kill or cure? These are fantastic tasting cherry chillies in olive oil from DeFine Food and Wine in Sandiway Cheshire. They also do the most gorgeous range of olives and other anti-pasta, chorizo sausages to die for and an array of cheeses that wouldn't look out of place at a French market (almost). Their wine rack is also one of the most comprehensive that I have seen in any independent merchants, too spoilt for choice, I can never make my mind up. Highly recommended.