Dinner

With the end of the Turf round approaching, I was facing two intriguing challenges. In my league I'd been second by a good margin to a  Swedish Turfer (jomii) who took the most points in the world a couple of rounds ago, but I'd been slowly reducing the gap over the past week. It would be very satisfying to beat them, even if they were taking it easy this round, but if I got close, might they just go up a gear and pull away again? It was also just possible to reach 250,000 points for the round. This is something that I've never done since I stopped using a bike. 

Today I went for it!

After walking Django (Turfing Penicuik), I took a bus into Edinburgh, where I went to John Lewis to buy a new washing machine. Our old one has been making odd noises for a while because the main bearing has failed, and littering the washing with crumbs of rubber and plastic, so I concluded that its time was up. I also ordered a proper espresso machine, since the one that uses capsules - bought the same day as the last washing machine! - is struggling. Afterwards, to accumulate Turf points, I walked across the northern side of the city centre, and through a wooded area that I've never visited. Having gone over Corstorphine Hill - in the strong wind that had closed Princes Street Gardens - by the end of the afternoon, I was near Murrayfield. A dinner in the evening dictated that I had to get home, walk Django, have a shower, and get back into Edinburgh, so I stopped Turfing and took a tram into the city centre.

The dinner was hosted by my oldest colleague, and also at the table were a PhD student from 20 years ago and her husband. She's worked in industry and consultancy since she graduated, so it was very interesting to hear of her experience and get advice on how to run the workshop that HiGHS is putting on this summer. 

Afterwards, I felt refreshed, and was 1000 points behind jomii - who hadn't been active all day - so I set out again (at 23:00). Although windy, the weather was generally fine, and it was interesting to see the city and people over the next couple of hours. Although jomii did take a few zones after I'd overtaken him, it looked as if they didn't care. After driving home, I took Django out for another short walk and went to sleep.