Blog World and Passionate Dale

WOW! How cool is this blogging lark?

There I was, surfing a few other blogs in my lunch break for inspiration and entertainment...and in amongst the weird, incomplete, confusing and downright scary - EUREKA! I stumbled upon Dale's world, aka Passion Of The Dale ...geddit?

And a couple of articles and the language and imagery and stuff...well, they immediately hook me. So I drop him a comment, just like you can do at the bottom of this article, and say:

Dale. I like your style...sincere, open, genuine. You obviously love mornings, life and people (not, by the way)

And then late on Friday night, after curry, beer, coffee, the ironing, Ray (how good a movie is that) , and drooling over the posh properties in the Surrey Ad, I finally check out emails. This guy who I only met today via Blog world, who lives somewhere in Canada and seems a bit, well, cynical...he's only gone and donated some dosh to our Kili cause and World Vision. And he's left a comment at the bottom of my blog article Mr Insomnia and Mrs Sleepy :

Andrew, you strike me as a little diabolical. First you compliment me on my caustic (half) wit and then you make me check out your blog. Okay, maybe I did that all on my own. I put away my crusty geezer persona for a few minutes and read through what you and your team are planning. Of course I know there are people out there who are willing to make a difference in the world, but it's just so nice to read about and see something like your plan in action. Best wishes to you and your team. Great blog entries so far. Oh, and lay off the hot chocolate you fool, what d'ya think is keeping you awake? Dale

Can I say it again? WOW!

Thanks, Dale. You've made my night. Really. The world isn't such a bad place after all. At least this Blog World is pretty amazing. Cruise around a bit and I promise you will find some enlightening, interesting, engaging and downright thrilling stuff...if you look hard enough. Not here, obviously, but try Passion Of The Dale for starters and then just scroll through the NEXT BLOG>> icon at the top right of the Blog page...trust me

Mr Insomnia and Mrs Sleepy

Hope I sleep better than tonight on the way up Kilimanjaro this time next year. We're going to need all the energy we can muster, and a sleepless night on the mountain is only going to reduce the odds of a successful summit attempt

Insomnia:

Want of sleep; inability to sleep; wakefulness; sleeplessness

Difficulty in getting to sleep, esp. as a persistent problem

Habitual sleeplessness

Inability to sleep, in the absence of external impediments, such as noise, a bright light, etc., during the period when sleep should normally occur; may vary in degree from restlessness or disturbed slumber to a curtailment of the normal length of sleep or to absolute wakefulness

That last one is from Stedman's Online Medical Dictionary (27th Edition)....just in case you didn't recognise the definition

No idea why tonight's so bad...but I've followed the usual routine - trying every possible pillow and body position for an hour; hot chocolate sipping and biscuit chomping frenzy; mindless zapping of the Sky remote; random surfing of the internet - and I'm

still

W----I----D----E

awake

Gill, on the other hand, has no such problems. I can imagine her sleeping through the summit attempt and waking up mid-morning, refreshed and bouncy, as we all stagger back from the epic midnight start, exhausted, sleep-deprived and nauseous with altitude sickness

Did I miss anything? Anyone fancy a bacon butty?

Narcolepsy:

A condition characterized by frequent, brief, and uncontrollable bouts of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by hallucinations and an inability to move

A medical condition which makes you go to sleep suddenly and unexpectedly

Condition marked by short fits of heavy sleep

Come to think of it, Gill's sleep patterns are deep...but certainly not short. Once asleep that's her, gone until the alarm goes off or the world ends

I'm just envious, Mrs M. How wonderful to be able to flick a mental switch and know with absolute certainty that every night you're going to get a quality 8 hours of zeds

But don't worry, I'll make sure you're awake for summit day. It will be worth it....trust me