Walking

"Cows, countryside, fresh air ... bollocks" - as Harry Enfield's Loadsamoney character once said.

When I go on holiday I don't like looking at palaces, old buildings, museums etc. They're old stuff. So, why should I want to look at hills etc. They're even older. Mountains, damn it, are millions of years old.

When I went to Vancouver a few years ago I went up their mini-CNN tower and had a good view of the city's skyline. The only thing ruining it was the mountains in the background.

If God had wanted us to walk he wouldn't have invented cars, or planes, or indeed the Internet. No, wait, Al Gore invented that one. Then again, if God does exist he should come right round and apologise now.

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He hasn't turned up yet. Where was I. Oh yes, walking. If you're walking to the cake shop, that's ok. If you're walking back from the cake shop, carrying a big Beglian milk chocolate cake which you're going to share with your blonde girlfriend (although red-heads may also apply via my usual email address), that's even better.

But if you're going for a walk just for the sake of it, and worse, in the countryside, sorry, the bloody countryside, well ... don't get me started.

Today I was forced to go for such a walk. I don't want to talk about it.

Whilst out there my mobile phone rang. It was a recruitment agent. Not only that, it was the agent to whom I had spoken last Thursday. He was recruiting for an interim IT manager for his West End client. But, it eventually turned out that my minimum rate was well above their maximum.

Today, he phoned as it seems the client would now accept my mimimum. Not surprising; you can't get an interim for less. I certainly wouldn't get out of bed for less. In fact this week I've applied for job offering £100-£200 per day more. That's the whole point of interims, they are, by nature, costly.

He said the client would like to see me on Monday, probably the afternoon, and he'll get back to confirm details. All this was over a few phone calls as the mobile signal kept disappearing. Why? Because I was in the bloody countryside.