Ok, so not quite that dramatic, but it was certainly serious panic stations.
Last Monday was a Bank Holiday (St Helena Day). Next Monday and Tuesday are both Bank Holidays. Today is also a Bank Holiday. However in the UK Today would normally be a bank holiday, but isn't this year. it also seems strange having 3 bank holidays on the trot. I've therefore had a nagging feeling all day that actually it shouldn't, and possibly isn't, a bank holiday. This is compounded by various confusion about what days are and aren't bank holidays - 16th April was supposed to be a Bank Holiday (but moved to the Jubilee), and I have a feeling that New Years Day ISN'T a Bank Holiday, which seems daft.
Therefore when, at 10:30 my Boss rings I Panic, I think he's phoning to find out why I'm not at work. I've never had a boss ring me at home before, ever. Luckily it was just an invite to a BBQ not a career ending disciplinary. Phew.
Monday 28 May 2012
Saturday 26 May 2012
Diving and Dolphins
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| http://www.sailblogs.com/member/osprey2003/?xjMsgID=123647 |
OK, so the photo is a cheat, as my camera is not very waterproof, this is a shot of the cave used in James Bond Thunderball, which I've lifted off the web. However this morning I went diving (with my Instructor and 3 from Basil Read) and we passed through an elongated Arch underwater which looked very much like this. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I really really wished I had a waterproof camera. There were a couple of other, smaller, caves which I only looked in - I'm still a bit unsure of myself underwater and didn't want to get into trouble in a cave. Today lasted 47 minutes at a depth of about 12-15m max.
Towards the end of the dive I was running low on air and we had to swim back to the boat, so rather than surface, with our 3min safety stop at 5m we swam along underwater at 5m back to the boat, as the sea floor was about 12m we were about half way down and it was another quite new experience. Normally we're trundling along the sea floor, a little like crawling around the ground; other times we're on the surface - swimming. This time we were mid water and not going up or down, the closest to flying or weightlessness I think you can get J I loved it - forget all the fish people insist upon pointing out (although we did see a cool octopus, an enormous lobster and a big, um, fish?) - I learnt to dive for the feeling of floating effortless with a 3 dimensional space which you can explore.
One thing I was a little gutted about was that the Dive Club had a dive this morning about half a mile from our site, they saw 3 manta-rays, which apparently came up real close, we saw none - luck of the draw. However after the dive on the way back we were followed by a ?pack? of Dolphins - easily over 100 of them - with some making massive leaps really close. I've been meaning to get out on another Dolphin Trip, but not really got around to it, so to see them after a dive was a huge bonus, shame I still didn't have my camera.
Friday 18 May 2012
One of the most remote inhabited places on the Planet.
Perspective is a wonderful thing. Einstein put it perfectly, I can't remember what he said, but it was perfect I'm sure (c'mon he was a Genius). Something to do with relativity anyway.
St Helena, before I arrived, was the second most remote inhabited place on the Planet, after Tristan da Chuna. By the time I arrived it was the most remote as apparently Tristan is easy to get by comparison.Well now I've been here a while I disagree. I think it's the rest of the world that's remote and difficult to get to, and apparently America is even Inhabited. Besides it's not difficult to get here, just slow, relaxed, peaceful. We label places as 'remote' without ever having been there, what is remote anyway? Compared to a small village in Scotland (lets call it Ballachulish) we have everything: multiple DIY sheds, a Theater, Supermarkets, Countryside (ok no Mountains), a Swimming Pool, Beach, Fishing Community, Yacht Club, Dive School, Police Station, Fire Station, Hospital, Community Centers, Schools, Care Home, Tourist Information Center, Cafes, Pubs, Nightclubs, Gift Shops, Farms, Petrol Stations, Museum, Quarrys, Vehicle Hire, Garages, Hotels, B&B's, Distillery, Churches, Other Faith Groups, Scouts, Guides, Historic Buildings, Camp Site, Courthouse, Jail, Library, Radio Stations all within a 10mile drive. Ballachulish has some, but not all, even adding in Glen Coe, Dura, etc.
You may say things take a long time to get here, but actually time is Relative (was that what Einstein said?). It may be 3 weeks between RMS arrivals from Cape Town, but I have to say it feels like the RMS is always either, here, about to arrive or only just gone. I forget I'm on an Island, I do 'normal' things and nothing seems too exotic or bizarre. I would liken St Helena to an English summer in a remote coastal village where it's really just too much effort to drive up the lane to the main road.
The only really odd thing about being so remote is the caravan at the end of the road, and that fact it took a couple of months to realise just how odd that was.
So what is remote?
St Helena, before I arrived, was the second most remote inhabited place on the Planet, after Tristan da Chuna. By the time I arrived it was the most remote as apparently Tristan is easy to get by comparison.Well now I've been here a while I disagree. I think it's the rest of the world that's remote and difficult to get to, and apparently America is even Inhabited. Besides it's not difficult to get here, just slow, relaxed, peaceful. We label places as 'remote' without ever having been there, what is remote anyway? Compared to a small village in Scotland (lets call it Ballachulish) we have everything: multiple DIY sheds, a Theater, Supermarkets, Countryside (ok no Mountains), a Swimming Pool, Beach, Fishing Community, Yacht Club, Dive School, Police Station, Fire Station, Hospital, Community Centers, Schools, Care Home, Tourist Information Center, Cafes, Pubs, Nightclubs, Gift Shops, Farms, Petrol Stations, Museum, Quarrys, Vehicle Hire, Garages, Hotels, B&B's, Distillery, Churches, Other Faith Groups, Scouts, Guides, Historic Buildings, Camp Site, Courthouse, Jail, Library, Radio Stations all within a 10mile drive. Ballachulish has some, but not all, even adding in Glen Coe, Dura, etc.
You may say things take a long time to get here, but actually time is Relative (was that what Einstein said?). It may be 3 weeks between RMS arrivals from Cape Town, but I have to say it feels like the RMS is always either, here, about to arrive or only just gone. I forget I'm on an Island, I do 'normal' things and nothing seems too exotic or bizarre. I would liken St Helena to an English summer in a remote coastal village where it's really just too much effort to drive up the lane to the main road.
The only really odd thing about being so remote is the caravan at the end of the road, and that fact it took a couple of months to realise just how odd that was.
So what is remote?
Wednesday 9 May 2012
A Long Walk in Longwood...
... jokes going wrong and a lack of mobile phones.
For years now I have been punishing Boys who don't listen by giving blatantly false information in response to questions asked for a second, third or fourth time. I am sure that other Youth Leaders do the same (even if you don't admit to it). I normally try to make sure that the answer is so obviously wrong that confusion doesn't arise.
Last night we did a post-box walk with Scouts. This walk was a there and back again at the far end of Longwood, quite a long way (by Road) from Jamestown. I had originally planned to meet the bus at Longwood, but a bad day and last minute meeting in Jamestown at 3pm meant I caught the bus up with the Scouts. On the way we were asked 'where are we going' and 'what are we doing' a few times, When one Boy, who knows when I'm winding him up and who I had already answered once, claimed forgetfulness and asked again I said "we're walking back to Jamestown" I repeated this answer a few times when questioned with a huge grin on my face (those of you who know me well probably hate that grin) and none of the Scouts contradicted me even though at least some of them must have known we weren't.
At this point I feel a need to defend myself against claims of cruelty. (Youth Leaders) Who hasn't, on a trip to Wales or Cornwall, admonished a member of your group for not bringing their passport? Or made the equally absurd claim that "we're walking home" from a huge distance away? or sent someone for 'a long weight' or 'left handed mallet' or ...
Now, here comes the problem, unbeknownst to me, or Paul (the Scout Leader), there is an old historic Route from Longwood to Jamestown. If you know the way it is probably quite walkable in a couple of hours (but it's too far to walk by road). We didn't know this, Simba, the Bus Driver, did and thinking there had been a change of plan duly waited for us at the appointed time, in Jamestown. We proceeded with our walk and were a little surprised the bus didn't show to pick us up, in Longwood.
Obviously we all made it home, eventually. The lack of mobile phones meant we had to walk a couple of miles to find a phone. Then work out a way to contact Simba sitting in his Bus (thank you St Helena Police). Then wait for Simba to drive up from Jamestown. I think I was about 2 hours later home than expected and must have been one of the last ones back.
A final note: it it's a credit to St Helena that nobody appeared to worry. Parents were phoned about an hour and a half after everyone was due home, with no apparent concern (I may find out different next week). We had one new boy who has only been here 5 weeks with Basil Read and at Scouts for the first time, I dropped him home, but his whole family was out. Figuring they may be looking for him we headed towards the Police Station (that's probably the first place you'd go to look for a missing child) and met his family on the way. They seemed perfectly happy that we were so late, although if I'm right then the police may have explained the situation to them so they had recovered by the time I met them.
Postscript: Many people on St Helena have nicknames, some are pretty much only known by their nicknames. Today someone, completely nothing to do with Scouts, called me the Pied Piper, I hope it doesn't stick.
For years now I have been punishing Boys who don't listen by giving blatantly false information in response to questions asked for a second, third or fourth time. I am sure that other Youth Leaders do the same (even if you don't admit to it). I normally try to make sure that the answer is so obviously wrong that confusion doesn't arise.
Last night we did a post-box walk with Scouts. This walk was a there and back again at the far end of Longwood, quite a long way (by Road) from Jamestown. I had originally planned to meet the bus at Longwood, but a bad day and last minute meeting in Jamestown at 3pm meant I caught the bus up with the Scouts. On the way we were asked 'where are we going' and 'what are we doing' a few times, When one Boy, who knows when I'm winding him up and who I had already answered once, claimed forgetfulness and asked again I said "we're walking back to Jamestown" I repeated this answer a few times when questioned with a huge grin on my face (those of you who know me well probably hate that grin) and none of the Scouts contradicted me even though at least some of them must have known we weren't.
At this point I feel a need to defend myself against claims of cruelty. (Youth Leaders) Who hasn't, on a trip to Wales or Cornwall, admonished a member of your group for not bringing their passport? Or made the equally absurd claim that "we're walking home" from a huge distance away? or sent someone for 'a long weight' or 'left handed mallet' or ...
Now, here comes the problem, unbeknownst to me, or Paul (the Scout Leader), there is an old historic Route from Longwood to Jamestown. If you know the way it is probably quite walkable in a couple of hours (but it's too far to walk by road). We didn't know this, Simba, the Bus Driver, did and thinking there had been a change of plan duly waited for us at the appointed time, in Jamestown. We proceeded with our walk and were a little surprised the bus didn't show to pick us up, in Longwood.
Obviously we all made it home, eventually. The lack of mobile phones meant we had to walk a couple of miles to find a phone. Then work out a way to contact Simba sitting in his Bus (thank you St Helena Police). Then wait for Simba to drive up from Jamestown. I think I was about 2 hours later home than expected and must have been one of the last ones back.
A final note: it it's a credit to St Helena that nobody appeared to worry. Parents were phoned about an hour and a half after everyone was due home, with no apparent concern (I may find out different next week). We had one new boy who has only been here 5 weeks with Basil Read and at Scouts for the first time, I dropped him home, but his whole family was out. Figuring they may be looking for him we headed towards the Police Station (that's probably the first place you'd go to look for a missing child) and met his family on the way. They seemed perfectly happy that we were so late, although if I'm right then the police may have explained the situation to them so they had recovered by the time I met them.
Postscript: Many people on St Helena have nicknames, some are pretty much only known by their nicknames. Today someone, completely nothing to do with Scouts, called me the Pied Piper, I hope it doesn't stick.
Sunday 6 May 2012
Roads Manager
Well, I've been employed for over 4 months, and nearly been here for 4 months, I haven't blogged much about the roads or the job yet so here it is. Sorry, it's going to be a bit long I think.
The Job is going well, for a given value of Well. Since arriving I was thrown in at the deep end a little. Or a lot. We've almost merged the 2 teams back into one at one depot; this time next week we may have actually started the move. I've already moved office (again) since the photos, but as my new office looks almost identical I won't bother to update them.
We've lost a few staff to Basil Read (the Airport) but have managed to recruit a few, not as many as we wanted, but enough to keep us trundling along. Those staff we have all seem pretty willing to be flexible to do what needs doing and to work together. It's taking them some time to get used to the idea, and until everyone's based together communication is going to be a little odd. Most people seem to be going through a period of Hi's and Low's, but that is rather inevitable with quite big changes happening quite fast, and quite big changes happening very very slowly at the same time.
I've ordered my Sweeper, and a truck to carry and spray the bitumen. We've got a JCB, Dumper, 2x Transits and a Tractor/Flail out to Tender and are firming up the specification for another roller. The sweeper has a 6 month lead time, and the bitumen truck a 4 month lead time. I'm hoping everything else is slightly more 'off the shelf'. Otherwise I could be waiting till next year for some of it.
My time is split 50:50 between trying to sort out surfacing and work and keeping the Politics and Policy running. The Policy is actually further behind than the work, to the point that I don't think people really realise it exists (or needs to exist). We don't have a lot of necessary legislation or policies which a self respecting Highway Authority need. The Highway Authority (which is actually the committee rather than me) are, I feel, too involved with detail to see the bigger picture; however to give them credit they do pick up on things when they're pointed out and I think are going to be glad to move away from detail into principles and policy setting.
At the moment I'm dealing with a major planning application - in as much as I have to make sure we send in comments from the Roads Section. This is the first major planning application since the Airport - and I don't really know if that has actually gone through planning yet. It is clear that the design team for this development do not understand St Helena's roads or traffic (to be fair I think you have to spend more than a week here to do so); they have stated that internationally recognised assumptions don't work so they aren't using them; but without having anything else to base their ideas on they have made other assumptions which are equally as invalid - only they probably haven't even realised it!
I'm also in the process of setting up a website and waiting to get a new piece of GIS software installed. Once we have GIS (basically an electronic map you can draw on) the process of mapping all our assets can start, this is the very beginning of Asset Management and working out what we've actually got to do.
Alongside all of this is the nagging thought that we don't have a surfacing material. Surface dressing is ok for now, but doesn't meet the required standards by itself. On top of this the chip spreading is still being done by hand as the machine doesn't like the chippings - although there is new quarry equipment being setup so this may change... We're currently thinking about running trials with Slurry Seal/MicroAsphalt and Cold Asphalt (like Hot Asphalt, but Cold).
We've just gone through the Annual Appraisal process (many of you will understand where I'm coming from here) we agreed that one of my targets for this coming year would be to sort out the Policies and Processes, but when trying to make it SMART it fell apart. We tried to define which ones I'd do by when, but to be honest we didn't know. In the end I think my target is basically to find out how bad it is by the Spring, but not to actually do anything about it. It's frustrating when a system, which is good in principle, becomes too restrictive to actually allow things to happen properly. I know my target is 'to sort things out'. It doesn't need to be any more than that. I know what it means, my Boss knows what it means, it's just HR and 'Management' that don't.
When DFID were here in January they did a review of all the Infrastructure projects. The report which came back a couple of weeks ago basically says that the Roads project is off track and needs a kick up the proverbial. I'm now in the process of writing a comprehensive review of the Roads Section and Project Delivery. I'm at about 45 pages and only half way through I reckon. Again, this is annoying because I know what needs doing and spending a couple of weeks writing it all down and justifying it is not really a good use of my time. However I do realise that someone somewhere is throwing a few £million into this, so they want some confidence it's being used wisely. Also, it has actually helped me to rationalise some decisions and work on priorities. I now realised quite how much I need that Sweeper, and the Tractor with Flail!
I'm very conscious that there is a Change Management process happening and I'm so far down the curve I've lost everyone behind me who are now beginning to wonder what's going on. Those of you from Devon will probably understand what I mean, even if no-one else does. There is a lot of frustration, because actually, for all my work, we're still basically fixing things the same way we did 10 years ago. I have a few more things to sort, then I need to retrace myself and start the change process again.
All in all, it's quite Hectic. By a Friday afternoon by Brain is Fried (actually by about 1:30 most days my Brain is fried, sometimes I get a second wind about 3:30, sometimes I don't). I go swimming after work a couple of times a week, because (when there are few kids) the pool is quiet underwater and I can relax and forget about work (concentrating on not breathing until my head is above water keeps my brain busy).
I still love my Job, and thank all those of you who have helped me get where I am today - not naming names, but if you think I'm thinking of you then I bet you I am (unless I've never met you, or heard of you or anything, then you're just being delusional, I suggest you see a Doctor).
The Job is going well, for a given value of Well. Since arriving I was thrown in at the deep end a little. Or a lot. We've almost merged the 2 teams back into one at one depot; this time next week we may have actually started the move. I've already moved office (again) since the photos, but as my new office looks almost identical I won't bother to update them.
We've lost a few staff to Basil Read (the Airport) but have managed to recruit a few, not as many as we wanted, but enough to keep us trundling along. Those staff we have all seem pretty willing to be flexible to do what needs doing and to work together. It's taking them some time to get used to the idea, and until everyone's based together communication is going to be a little odd. Most people seem to be going through a period of Hi's and Low's, but that is rather inevitable with quite big changes happening quite fast, and quite big changes happening very very slowly at the same time.
I've ordered my Sweeper, and a truck to carry and spray the bitumen. We've got a JCB, Dumper, 2x Transits and a Tractor/Flail out to Tender and are firming up the specification for another roller. The sweeper has a 6 month lead time, and the bitumen truck a 4 month lead time. I'm hoping everything else is slightly more 'off the shelf'. Otherwise I could be waiting till next year for some of it.
My time is split 50:50 between trying to sort out surfacing and work and keeping the Politics and Policy running. The Policy is actually further behind than the work, to the point that I don't think people really realise it exists (or needs to exist). We don't have a lot of necessary legislation or policies which a self respecting Highway Authority need. The Highway Authority (which is actually the committee rather than me) are, I feel, too involved with detail to see the bigger picture; however to give them credit they do pick up on things when they're pointed out and I think are going to be glad to move away from detail into principles and policy setting.
At the moment I'm dealing with a major planning application - in as much as I have to make sure we send in comments from the Roads Section. This is the first major planning application since the Airport - and I don't really know if that has actually gone through planning yet. It is clear that the design team for this development do not understand St Helena's roads or traffic (to be fair I think you have to spend more than a week here to do so); they have stated that internationally recognised assumptions don't work so they aren't using them; but without having anything else to base their ideas on they have made other assumptions which are equally as invalid - only they probably haven't even realised it!
I'm also in the process of setting up a website and waiting to get a new piece of GIS software installed. Once we have GIS (basically an electronic map you can draw on) the process of mapping all our assets can start, this is the very beginning of Asset Management and working out what we've actually got to do.
Alongside all of this is the nagging thought that we don't have a surfacing material. Surface dressing is ok for now, but doesn't meet the required standards by itself. On top of this the chip spreading is still being done by hand as the machine doesn't like the chippings - although there is new quarry equipment being setup so this may change... We're currently thinking about running trials with Slurry Seal/MicroAsphalt and Cold Asphalt (like Hot Asphalt, but Cold).
We've just gone through the Annual Appraisal process (many of you will understand where I'm coming from here) we agreed that one of my targets for this coming year would be to sort out the Policies and Processes, but when trying to make it SMART it fell apart. We tried to define which ones I'd do by when, but to be honest we didn't know. In the end I think my target is basically to find out how bad it is by the Spring, but not to actually do anything about it. It's frustrating when a system, which is good in principle, becomes too restrictive to actually allow things to happen properly. I know my target is 'to sort things out'. It doesn't need to be any more than that. I know what it means, my Boss knows what it means, it's just HR and 'Management' that don't.
When DFID were here in January they did a review of all the Infrastructure projects. The report which came back a couple of weeks ago basically says that the Roads project is off track and needs a kick up the proverbial. I'm now in the process of writing a comprehensive review of the Roads Section and Project Delivery. I'm at about 45 pages and only half way through I reckon. Again, this is annoying because I know what needs doing and spending a couple of weeks writing it all down and justifying it is not really a good use of my time. However I do realise that someone somewhere is throwing a few £million into this, so they want some confidence it's being used wisely. Also, it has actually helped me to rationalise some decisions and work on priorities. I now realised quite how much I need that Sweeper, and the Tractor with Flail!
I'm very conscious that there is a Change Management process happening and I'm so far down the curve I've lost everyone behind me who are now beginning to wonder what's going on. Those of you from Devon will probably understand what I mean, even if no-one else does. There is a lot of frustration, because actually, for all my work, we're still basically fixing things the same way we did 10 years ago. I have a few more things to sort, then I need to retrace myself and start the change process again.
All in all, it's quite Hectic. By a Friday afternoon by Brain is Fried (actually by about 1:30 most days my Brain is fried, sometimes I get a second wind about 3:30, sometimes I don't). I go swimming after work a couple of times a week, because (when there are few kids) the pool is quiet underwater and I can relax and forget about work (concentrating on not breathing until my head is above water keeps my brain busy).
I still love my Job, and thank all those of you who have helped me get where I am today - not naming names, but if you think I'm thinking of you then I bet you I am (unless I've never met you, or heard of you or anything, then you're just being delusional, I suggest you see a Doctor).
Saturday 5 May 2012
I've gone Metric because I can't Count
I've realised I need to swim Kilometres because I can't keep count high enough to do a mile.
The pool is 33m long, so a kilometre is 30 lengths, and a mile is 48. Swimming today I lost track by either 6 or 8 lengths and was completely off at about 27 (I knew I'd done an even number but reckoned I was on 27...) I have no hope of keeping anything like an accurate count to 48 lengths so I've decided that if I'm doing lengths for the sake of lengths (like today) I'll set the bar at 30 for a kilometre. Whilst I can't count to 30, I am reasonably confident that I can have a vague idea of when I've done 30.
It's odd, I'm normally good at maths, but when wet it goes completely to pot. With diving you have to talk to your buddy about how much air you have, holding up fingers for each 100bar on the gauge. Sounds really easy, a full tank is 2000bar so that's both hands, twice; and the reserve starts at 500bar so that's one hand. But frequently I'll spend a good time working out how many fingers I need, and then realise I'm still wrong (eg 8 fingers for 700 bar).
Oddly, last week when I dived in a large group I spotted someone else struggling to work out how many fingers to hold up - I was on about 700bar and eventually they seemed to be holding up 14 fingers (which i struggled to believe), but it took a couple of attempts.
I think a key feature for teachers is to make sure the roof doesn't leak - I'm now convinced that water degrades the brain's ability to do maths.
The pool is 33m long, so a kilometre is 30 lengths, and a mile is 48. Swimming today I lost track by either 6 or 8 lengths and was completely off at about 27 (I knew I'd done an even number but reckoned I was on 27...) I have no hope of keeping anything like an accurate count to 48 lengths so I've decided that if I'm doing lengths for the sake of lengths (like today) I'll set the bar at 30 for a kilometre. Whilst I can't count to 30, I am reasonably confident that I can have a vague idea of when I've done 30.
It's odd, I'm normally good at maths, but when wet it goes completely to pot. With diving you have to talk to your buddy about how much air you have, holding up fingers for each 100bar on the gauge. Sounds really easy, a full tank is 2000bar so that's both hands, twice; and the reserve starts at 500bar so that's one hand. But frequently I'll spend a good time working out how many fingers I need, and then realise I'm still wrong (eg 8 fingers for 700 bar).
Oddly, last week when I dived in a large group I spotted someone else struggling to work out how many fingers to hold up - I was on about 700bar and eventually they seemed to be holding up 14 fingers (which i struggled to believe), but it took a couple of attempts.
I think a key feature for teachers is to make sure the roof doesn't leak - I'm now convinced that water degrades the brain's ability to do maths.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Shooting Scouts
Ok, so not as interesting as it sounds, and nobody got hurt.
Today we went shooting. I've done shooting before, with an air rifle. This was real shooting, with real guns, and real bullets, and real it could kill you. I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting plasticy air rifles and little pellets, this was (by my standards) real sniper territory.
The targets were about 20m away I guess, and we had 6 per A4 sheet so not too big. The rules are 10 bullets per round, and you have to put 2 bullets in each target and the top 2 bullets in each target count. You only use 5 of the 6 on the sheet. Scoring is between 6 and 10, with 10.1 for a bulls-eye, so lowest score is 0 (complete miss) and 101 for 10 bulls-eyes.
In the first round I scored 70, which was second lowest. I would have scored more but I only got 9 bullets into the paper, one not in a target and the last bullet I think went into Paul's Target sheet as he had 11 holes... The next round I had 83, which was a respectable score placing me about 6th out of 9 overall, beating one of the scouts who had done it before. Top score was 179.2 I think.
My excuse was that I struggled to line the sights up with my glasses, so couldn't see properly. It's a lousy excuse I know as even when I could see properly all it was was a black dot in the sight, the difference between a 6 and a 10.1 was wobble rather than aim.
Today we went shooting. I've done shooting before, with an air rifle. This was real shooting, with real guns, and real bullets, and real it could kill you. I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting plasticy air rifles and little pellets, this was (by my standards) real sniper territory.
The targets were about 20m away I guess, and we had 6 per A4 sheet so not too big. The rules are 10 bullets per round, and you have to put 2 bullets in each target and the top 2 bullets in each target count. You only use 5 of the 6 on the sheet. Scoring is between 6 and 10, with 10.1 for a bulls-eye, so lowest score is 0 (complete miss) and 101 for 10 bulls-eyes.
In the first round I scored 70, which was second lowest. I would have scored more but I only got 9 bullets into the paper, one not in a target and the last bullet I think went into Paul's Target sheet as he had 11 holes... The next round I had 83, which was a respectable score placing me about 6th out of 9 overall, beating one of the scouts who had done it before. Top score was 179.2 I think.
My excuse was that I struggled to line the sights up with my glasses, so couldn't see properly. It's a lousy excuse I know as even when I could see properly all it was was a black dot in the sight, the difference between a 6 and a 10.1 was wobble rather than aim.
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