Random musings of a child progeny
Just about to leave the flat and embark on the seventh year of the Hogmanay alphabet tour: Grindelwald, Switzerland. I fully intend to not touch a computer for a whole week so this will be the last post until I get back and get rid of the shakes!
It’s been a mixed year with some definite highs but personally it’s going to go down as a pretty shitty one overall. So here’s to an awesome 2007 where everything will balance itself out!
Another year older and another year wiser.
I took the train back to Edinburgh yesterday after spending Christmas back at home with my mum, brother and sister-in-law. This journey turned out to be one of the worst trips I’ve made. The train to York was late arriving (as usual) but this was of no consequence as the connection was even later (as usual).
The train stopped for 15 minutes for some reason or other and just before Newcastle it was announced that the rear wheels had developed a fault and as a result, our speed would be limited to 50 miles per hour for our safety. Despite being reassured that there was no reason to switch trains at Newcastle the train ground to a halt a second time to allow later trains to pass.
A new announcement informed us that the unfortunate people traveling past Edinburgh would be moved onto buses as there has been a fatality on the Forth Rail bridge.
In total we arrived into Edinburgh Waverley three hours late as half of the stations signals had developed faults. But things having been put in perspective, I guess being late isn’t the worst thing in the World.
I know, it’s a crappy Americanism but occasionally as I’m not religious I feel somewhat of a hypocrite celebrating Christmas. I am spiritual (not as in the “I don’t go to church but am scared of dying” crowd) but organised religion just puts me on edge – nowadays more than ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas time. I think it’s a magical time of year and a great opportunity for parties with people I’ve not seen for too long. Edinburgh is just fantastic in December: the German Market and Winter Wonderland, the fairy lights on trees along Princess Street and leading up to the Castle, the Salvation Army band playing in the West End.
I wish I had the equipment, time and (let’s face it) skill to take some good photos to share but I’ll leave it to the official site.
Don’t think what is – think of what could be.
According to AppleInsider, plans are afoot for another Apple store in Scotland – specifically Edinburgh’s Princes Street! I was slightly miffed when I heard that Glasgow was getting one first but then I realised that this was probably a Good Thing (™) as I have a hard enough time not buying new toys when passing John Lewis and ScotSys.
Some time after I got this “proper job” and was therefore officially all grown-up, I thought that it was about time I treated myself to a decent anaolgue watch.
However, sometimes I wish that I’d kept my old Casio Databank. I loved the looks of the Seiko Arctura Kinetic auto-relay from the moment I saw it. Its ability to hibernate for up to four years and then set itself to the correct time also scored points with me. But it can’t keep track of the date and really grinds my gears to have to spend five minutes advancing the date by hand in order to correct the calendar to the 1st at the start of every other month – and especially so in March!
So I’m lying in bed last night and just about to fall asleep when – out of nowhere – a thought enters my head: “How does a deaf person’s smoke alarm work?”
Well that was me wide awake again for another couple of hours, resisting the urge to wake my blissfully sleeping computer to Google the answer. I somehow managed to wait until I got to the office in the morning to find out the answer: flashing lights and vibrating pillows.
As the BBC reports MP3 FM transmitters have been illegal here in the UK thanks to a ridiculously outdated law from 1949. A new Wireless Telegraphy law will come into force from the 8th of December that exempts certain low powered devices.
No, not that one.
Like it or not, Christmas is just around the corner. After a weekend in the snow and noticing the decorations springing up everywhere, I thought this would be as good a time as any to mention that Caring Christmas Trees is in action in Edinburgh again and this year has also branched out (sorry, couldn’t resist) into Fife.
Each tree bought provides a homeless person with a hot meal, a bed for the night and breakfast.
While I was giving blood after work today I signed up for something called Fast Response. Basically this means that if stocks of my blood type are running low the SNBTS can call and ask me to donate within 24 hours.
My visions of an emergency helicopter or – at the very least – a police escort with sirens were dashed though. All I got was a pin badge with a 24 logo that has more than a passing resemblance to a certain TV series.
I spent last weekend in the Highlands of Scotland for a friends 30th birthday celebrations. The snow started in earnest after a stop at the House of Bruar for a warm bowl of soup. The A9 was actually closed shortly after we left.
Saturdays activities consisted of quad biking through forest trails and then some clay pigeon shooting, rounded off with a great whisky tasting at the Wee Spey Dram. That set us up very nicely for the vast quantity of food and drink ahead of us!
The trip also coincided with the peak of the annual Leonids meteor shower and the lack of light pollution from major cities make the Highlands a fantastic place to watch the stars at any time. As it turns out we only managed to see a single, brilliant, meteor before heading back inside to the warmth!
