On this day...

...in 1953, Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Everest. Following this magnificent achievement, Hillary's first words on decent from the summit were "Well George, we finally knocked the bastard off."

Also on this day in 1979 in a relatively insignificant part of northern England, I was born. 28 years later, I'm a few degrees further north, but I'm not sure about much else.

Hillary was 34 when he reached the top, and went on to be the first man to reach both poles as well as climb Everest. I've been to Poland & climbed Ben Nevis. Hardly compares, does it?

I recently trimmed my nasal hair for the first time. I wear a vest in winter. My grey hair count is going exponential. I was given a power drill as a present, and I am really happy with it. It takes me days to recover from hangovers. It's harder to shift those last few pounds. Without doubt, the trend is slightly southward, but I refuse to accept that I'm done. Not yet, anyway.

I've got 6 years on Hillary. I have always believed that I would achieve something extraordinary; I have never been sure what, but something... These days, I'd settle for a Nobel prize. I just need to figure out how to make it happen. Hillary worked as a beekeeper because it gave him a lot of time of in the austral winter - the beekeeping off season - to pursue his adventures.

Maybe that's a clue.