Well it seems that the phrase “I don’t like Mondays” is very applicable today (actually it is now Tuesday am as I post this). Firstly the dog wakes me up at 5.30am (I mean just how totally inconsiderate is that?), and then I have to get up half an hour later to go to work. That is a bad start to the week! As if to compound this, the inner thighs are hurting a bit, probably from three attempts at the bleep test yesterday, but more particularly as it is the first time I have run in eleventy-two gazillion years. After a coffee or three I trudge off to the office eventually at about 8am to face that other world that I live in.

I had a couple of emails over the weekend which I need to respond to as well, as I have been lax on responding to anything. A couple from Henry – he has given me some pointers as to how to best coordinate travel arrangements to and from Tanzania to coincide with proposed climb start dates. Also another very kind one from Saira at Bowel Cancer UK – she would like a quote from me and a picture for the website. I need to get this arranged, and realise quickly that I don’t think I have a recent picture of me at all (other than one collapsing in the garden yesterday during the bleep test, that wouldn’t be good!). Oh, there was a picture of me falling (very literally) into the Thames during a recent punting attempt in Oxford, but that probably won’t work either. Need to convince people that I have the ability to stay on my feet here, lest they do not sponsor my mountain trekking adventures!

Lastly I have a response to my advert for a travel buddy! The first one (hopefully there will be more too) is from a guy called Edd, who is from Derby I think (Hi Edd if you are reading this!). He says that he would love to climb Kilimanjaro too, but would like to know the costs. I send them to him, and hopefully they won’t put him off.

I have another trawl through the travel buddy site later, and it seems that most people are off soon to the forthcoming Oktoberfest in Munich. People are putting up notices saying the likes of “Hi, we are 22 year old Australian sisters – would you fancy coming with us to drink gallons of beer in a party atmosphere at the world’s best and biggest carnival – cheap accommodation, not far to travel, and drink and sing to your heart’s content the best beers served by voluptuous fraüleins in one of the world’s foremost party capitals”. Funnily enough they are getting shedloads of responses! Why won’t people jump to respond to my advert which says something like “If you’d be so kind, would you spend a fortune flying half way round the globe with a middle-aged bloke on his own for a week or more, and half-kill yourself walking up and down a massive pile of rock”. Hmmm, they are all missing the plot somewhere I think, or is it me?

Mondays, pah!