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Oct. 21st, 2009 @ 09:13 pm 
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Sometimes, days on holiday are not so good.
Today it was pouring with rain pretty much everywhere I was, so it seemed like a good day to get a bunch of driving done, if nothing else. I went to Inverness, bought some clothes, then headed out and about. I saw Loch Ness, but was in no mood to appreciate it because not long before that two pheasants decided that the best idea in the world would be to walk out in front of my car with absolutely no warning.
Two thumps followed, a spatter of feathers on the windscreen, a whirlwind of them in my rearview mirror.
Next to Loch Ness, I scraped blood and feathers and gore from the front of my car, but there's more inside the grille that I couldn't get off.
In Beauly, I tried to get cash from the bank, only to have my card declined. Trying to call my bank to answer the question of why the fuck that happened, my phone ran out of credit.
In Muir of Ord I had a mobile broadband signal, so I called on Skype. Eventually, it was established that there was no reason why that should have happened whatsoever. I tried the bank in Muir of Ord, and got money. So that was forty-five minutes of frustration and stress for no fucking reason.
North.
At the edge of Caithness, I had the novel experience of driving into a cloud. I could see it, just a few metres above, for a while before I hit the hill that took me into it.
Further north.
I stopped at a pub to enquire about food. I had creepy men and racist remarks about ethnic food to navigate, until I extricated myself and said I'd be sure to find something further up.
Not really.
At John O'Groats I had expensive, mediocre food that contained gluten despite extensive discussions with the waitress, because apparently a detailed conversation about food intolerances and coeliac disease doesn't bring to her mind that she should fucking warn about unannounced ingredients on the menu.
My mood wasn't the best, because as I was entering John O'Groats a deer ran out in front of my car. I braked hard to avoid it, and managed to do so, but remembered a moment too late the advice that deer travel in pairs. By then the second deer was in my headlights, and though I stood on the brakes hard, I couldn't avoid clipping the deer. Another thump of a life bouncing off my bumper.
This time I couldn't see it in my mirror, so I can hope that perhaps it survived with only a bruise and ran off with its friend.
No USB converage there, either, so I drove back to Wick. Nothing there, and I couldn't find a place to stay, so I drove to Thurso.
Despite being the biggest town in Caithness, Thurso offers no mobile broadband coverage. (Neither did Wick or John O'Groats.) I have internet here, at the one place I found to stay - an expensively shitty hotel - but their wi-fi won't reach to my room. In order to use the internet I have to sit in the bar.
Tomorrow I have generalised plans to go to Orkney, assuming I still retain the will to travel, or live, and from Orkney at some point to Shetland.
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| From: | ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) sqbr |
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| Date: |
October 21st, 2009 10:30 pm (UTC) |
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Blarg, that does not sound like fun.
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| From: | sami |
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October 22nd, 2009 04:52 pm (UTC) |
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It sucked, but it's over, and today was better.
By the way, in case you ever find yourself wanting to take pictures of the most total image of desolation you can imagine: Caithness is the place. Along the A9 there's many, many ruined stone buildings on empty, overgrown fields.
(Sadly I didn't photograph these because when I went past it was pouring with rain, but... you know. They're there.)
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| From: | sqbr |
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October 23rd, 2009 06:12 am (UTC) |
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*thinks*:
"Well, I'm not likely to go there any time soon"
"Oooh. But my Pride and Prejudice fanfic characters might!"
:)
aiii.
*wishes to feed stupid cafe staff something that will make them very sick, just to see how they like it. *
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| From: | willow |
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October 22nd, 2009 12:01 am (UTC) |
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Crap, you totally had one of those days didn't you. Suicidal wild-life, crap food, crappier creepier tool using primates. You need cake. There must be a way to get you gluten free cake on the morrow. Cake or pie of some sort.
And then you need a nice bed and breakfast, a good book, and possibly a fry up.
*huggles*
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| From: | sami |
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October 22nd, 2009 04:45 pm (UTC) |
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Man, this comment seriously helped. CAKE IS THE ANSWER.
Actually what I had was Devon Custard, but, you know, same diff.
♥
I hope Orkney is better. What a crappy day.
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| From: | sami |
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October 22nd, 2009 04:50 pm (UTC) |
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Well, I blew off Orkney because I realised that, what with one thing and another, like being semi-suicidal a little after midnight last night, it is fairly vital that I stay in places where it is possible for me to call home to cry at my loved ones.
Today I drove around Caithness and Sutherland before I came down to Inverness for the night - getting in to my room early enough that I can have a nice, relaxing evening just catching up on my photos and stuff.
My B&B overlooks the river Ness and has actual reliable wifi, so, you know, definite improvement.
Plus, I killed no wildlife today. Although I spent an extended period going through an area where there were sheep on the road, and had a guy lean on his horn for, literally, over five minutes straight because he was behind me on this one-lane track and I was going slower than he wanted me to.
Because I was avoiding hitting the sheep.
When I stopped completely he started blasting jabbily at me AND flashing his lights - all while the road was completely blocked by about twenty sheep that were in the process of scattering to the fields on either side.
Someone really, really needs to calm down and learn the realities of driving in the country...
Note that this interlude did not distress me, because I felt quite firmly that moral right was on my side.
As it was. Not to mention that even if you didn't care about sheep, you don't want to dent someone else's car!
I think you made the right call for the day for sure.
Oh, wow! Moral right was definitely on your side. If that jerk ever comes across a certain steep hill near the family residence of a Scottish friend of mine, I hope there's nobody to hit on the way down.
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