The QA is now safely back in Chippenham, deep in the heart (well, not really) of the West Country. Time to relax, take in the comparatively fresh air, and look for a mindless job to occupy me for a while. But first, some fun must be had.
I returned home just in time to catch the West Country’s finest old fogey rockers the
Worried Men on display at Corsham's finest ale house
The Two Pigs. Despite their age, they rocked very hard, playing a mix of hard rock and fogeycore. Indeed they rocked so hard that I had to return the following day to look for my socks (again... not really). My Dad, the apprentice drummer, was particularly taken by the drum solo, something which is sorely lacking in the repertoires of most modern bands. In fact, the only things which distracted me from the band were the exquisite local brew and the interesting fluid dynamics I observed from the smoke machine.
Then it was time to catch up with some old friends with a day at the beach. I use the word "beach" loosely, for here it refers to a man-made bay on a former-gravel pit lake in the water parks of the Cotswolds (the UK's largest, didn't you know?). Despite the lack of beach-fitties or salt in the water, it was pretty cool. An epic naval battle on catacanoes [essentially two canoes attached to form a catamaran] ensued. Both parties of combatants fought to manoeuvre their craft to present a broadside of splashing paddles to the opposing vessel. If the criteria for victory were to have completely drenched the others, I think we all won. Smelling of ponds, we returned home to our cosy little town where a barbeque, champagne and some relatives awaited me.
As if all this rural excitement weren't enough, I even managed to fit in a spot of night fishing before the weather turned lately. Unfortunately though, the turning of the weather took place just a couple of hours before I was due to head home, which resulted in a very wet Quantum Angler!
