There is a certain irony that my previous post – Banned at Last! – appears to be having some problems getting published on this site. It doesn’t appear unless you are logged in, which means that only I can see it! Very strange. Let’s hope the censors at WordPress see fit to make it public soon.

I watched the first episode of Mark Beaumont’s documentary last night; a fascinating insight into life on the road for a long-distance cyclist. Being someone who checked Mark’s blog as he made his way from Alaska to Argentina, it’s interesting to now see the whole thing play out on the TV and there are moments where I think, ah, yes, I remember him blogging about that. I didn’t realise that it took him three weeks to climb to the top of Mount McKinley; that in itself is an adventure worthy of three hours of prime time television! And bears…. scary. I’m not sure if I would have kept my calm demeanor if I had to camp out in the Canadian forests and mountains if I knew that I could be an evening snack for a passing grizzly. That said, he was well-prepared with explosive devices, pepper spray and if worst came to worst, a knife (although I think it more likely that the knife would have been used by the bear to pick its teeth after dining rather than Mark fending it off in the first place). He survived; good news for the schedulers at the BBC as they have two more hours of documentary to show.

It was also interesting to see the bike in action and observe the equipment. He didn’t appear to be too laden down with stuff. I exchanged a couple of emails with him while he was in Canada and blogged about them on here. He explained at the time that he was using a Terra Nova tent and again, it was interesting to see him actually use it. At the risk of sounding like Location, Location, Location, it did seem very roomy inside. Next week Mark moves on to Central America and all its craziness.

Debit cards? It is nearly 6.30am on Friday. Usually, I am busily planning my lessons at school by this time of the day but I have (again!) left my card in the self-service checkout machine at Sainsburys. They open at 7am so I will detour via the shop to (hopefully) pick it up, meaning a little bit of spare time to write on here…. I get fed up with the woman telling me that I have an “unauthorised item in the bagging area” or that “authorisation is required”. Why does she not say, “Oi! Stupid! You left your debit card in my slot again!” as I wander aimlessly through the exit of the supermarket….