UK June 2011 - Day 20. Today I met an old friend,
we'd not seen each other in nearly forty years. Russell and I had said our goodbyes when we left school in July 1972, exchanged a couple of letters and then lost contact. Thanks to the joys of the Internet we got back in touch about a year or so ago. He and his wife Chris have a bed and breakfast in Scotland, our planned destination for the day.
Before we could do that though we had to sit and enjoy the view from our tent for a while, which is where today's picture was taken. There's also a picture showing the damage the Loch Maree midges had done to me - imagine that all over your legs.
There was another problem with our plan to go and see Russell and Chris. We'd not been able to contact them because my cell 'phone didn't seem to want to work in the highlands. So they didn't know we were planning on coming. If they had vacancies that was fine, if not at least we could pop in and say hello on our way.
Getting there meant crossing the country again - they're on the East coast, near to Inverness. Driving (literally) across country we stopped under cell 'phone towers in the vain hope I could make a call. I tried public 'phone boxes, but in the age of cell 'phones they were few and far between; and working ones appear to be even rarer. Finally I found a public telephone that worked and got through. Good sports that they are, Russell and Chris didn't blink and eyelid at the zero notice and told us to come on over.
We arrived around three, and apart from break for a much needed shower, the next ten or so hours were spent catching up on forty years' news. I'd like to say that I took a couple of pictures to commemorate the occasion, but unfortunately I didn't. I was too busy enjoying myself.
04 July 2011 | 365:185 | 365 Days blog | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
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wizardjks 22 months ago | reply
i know the feeling about not being able to take pictures
some times you're just STUCK in the moment
lovely view in this picture
and i take it the insect bites are on your legs
lol
at least that'll help me get it outta my head
i'm loving your outdoorsy lifestyle
i always thought cellphone network coverage was far better in the west
i'd suggest getting a pay as you go satellite phone
with the kindda lifestyle you guys have i'm sure you won't have to go through the pain of looking for a payphone again
40 years between friends probably didn't feel much as the bond's still strong (0=
Ginger_Blue 22 months ago | reply
I think cell phone coverage is good in the west...when you're where there's people. If the population density is low, then it's like anywhere. No cell coverage! Or what seems to be more the case, there is coverage but it's by a provider that doesn't work with your phone. Oh technology...why must you fail me so? Sat phones are pricey. But the thought has crossed our minds.
Gary Allman 22 months ago | reply
It is an interesting phenomena. In the west there was already a widespread, cheap and available land line based service available. Adding cell phones meant building infrastructure on top of the existing wired system (and independent of it). Take up wasn't as fast because of the reliance on the existing infrastructure - at least to begin with.
Other countries took advantage of the technology and managed to leapfrog the very expensive to install wired phone system and go straight to 'cell 'phones. If you have a large dispersed or remote population a few strategically placed cell towers can deliver a service to a large population of subscribers. I found the cell phone coverage in remote areas of India much better than in remote areas of the UK, and the price of cell 'phone calls was much cheaper than wired calls too.