After fervent prayers and prolonged effort, my attempts to get myself fired were finally successful. Well, maybe not quite fired, but at least the next best thing: my services were not required for a while. Such is the nature of locum work. I therefore seized the opportunity to try some extreme ironing in my beloved Snowdonia. Apparently this combines the thrill of a danger sport with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt. I'd never done this before but have always enjoyed ironing, which I thought might give me an edge. There are international championships now, and maybe I could make the Aussie team someday with sufficient training. But Aussies are tough, not to mention the best in the world, so I knew this would need to be hard-core. First though, I grabbed the credit card and headed to John Lewis, where I attracted strange looks as I tried most of their display ironing boards on for size and weight. The board I chose was strong, lightweight, and fitted to my climbing pack - just. The £50 caused me pain, but I knew it would be worth every pound, high on the mountain. Don't miss the published story of this adventure! And my extreme ironing training tips are revealed in this interview.