If you are not into serious debate and conjecture, give this blog a miss. Stuart @ PC
Not sure how this has managed to manifest itself to this point of writing, but the subject of friendship has been bugging me for some time.
A couple of days ago, in The Mercat Bar , Lawrence, one of my readers said that he felt I was letting off steam and expressing myself in the blogs. So I now find myself raising what might be a strange issue, and you might wonder why I am doing so.
Friendship - what does it mean ?
A few years ago I watched a series on the TV about so called Debutant's, and one had a party for her 400 nearest “friends” - and many years ago as a very young (19 yrs old) policeman, standing in a shop doorway in Loanhead, middle of the night with Ronnie Cochrane, he told me that that would never have friends in the Police Force, only acquaintances !! And I think, that to this day that it is one of the most accurate statements I have ever heard in life
.
Now, I am here to be contradicted, challenged etc. but just what is friendship and who are friends.
Is a family member a friend ? Bearing in mind the saying that you can choose your friends but not your family - for me I have not seen or spoken to my sister for the past 14 years, and from what I hear from others this is not uncommon.
So, what is a friend ? Is it someone you just get to know though your work, a business clique, over a bar counter, or what ? And just what does it mean - to anyone - OK. I have friends in the Lodge, Chapter, etc, but where are the blokes I worked with - 14 years and not even a reunion dinner? Despite regular contact on the phone.
Is friendship a one way thing ? How is it affected by other relationships? My only ever declared friendship (apart from my wife and son) was with one of my brother’s in law, John, but when his wife and her sister in law stopped talking, so did he !! How were he and I affected by the respective pressures of the two wives ?
And in this case we had two who were so close and who now really could benefit from each others support.,
I have now to look at friendship and loyalty as two different issues - very much so, when we consider to the extreme, soldiers or others being tortured to disclose personal / national details, etc,
For me , personally , just what degree is friendship, someone I spoke to to yesterday - Question ? Why do we send x-mas cards to people we have not seen or spoken to for years?
Is someone a friend because I did them a favour - are they friends through obligation? And therefore what is an obligation - in this day and age , honour and the precepts of yore no longer exist.
Q. For me , I can possibly identify those who may be the one or two closest friends of my son - but for me, I supposed the proof will be in the numbers who turn up at my funeral !!!!!!!!!!!!! But although I can arrange the event I will not be there to monitor and welcome the atendees.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Friday, 5 March 2010
Go Jo's trip, Rose and memories
Feet up, watching TV and a glass of Tintara Grenache to hand - Go Jo has just arrived having jumped on a No 15 bus at Tollcross, now this is a true adventure, which makes a trip on the Starship Enterprise child's play. At one stage Go Jo had no idea where she was as the bus heads right out into the country via Lothianburn, Hillend, The Bush Estate, Bilston, Roslin, Auchendinny and then Penicuik. If truth were known the original turnpike road up till 1824 from Edinburgh through Auchendinny and south was a more direct route and not much longer, even by horse and carriage!!! Fortunately, when the Laird of Auchendinny applied to the King in 1606 for funds to rebuild the bridge at Auchendinny to reopen the turnpike, he granted the money , otherwise the bus would have taken a longer detour.
Ended up in the Mercat this afternoon for lunch with Mrs B., excellent dish prepared by Claire and Jamie, few prawns, another half trout, followed by a cheese board. But we have a bone to pick with Jamie and Claire, they sent us home with a portion of "Celtic Promise" and despite being relatively mild, it is so pungent (smelly) the house might now be attracting the attention of every mouse within about 500 yards.
On the way in I stopped to photograph the plaque for the Heart of Midlothian, Lodge 832, on the original building, but from the official web site I see that they now meet at Roseburn.
We had a visit in the pub by Rose, now I did mention her some months ago, she is over 80 yrs, a tiny lady, Irish, and who has had a lifetime experience of hard work, starting with the tattie picking in Ayrshire when she first came over from Ireland, then off to the fish sheds at Lerwick; Fraserburgh; Peterhead; and Leith, and eventually finished off doing seeding and bedding plants at Dobbies Nurseries. She walks the streets every day and always stops for a breather in the bus stop outside the Mercat, so after dozens of invites for a cuppa she has come in at long last.
Heard of a lorry crash today when a tanker overturned and was flooding the road, reminded me of the call we had years ago to the Speargate Lodge, where a tanker crashed and the road was blocked. The tanker was heated and carrying liquid cooking oil - but with the casing ruptured the oil poured out and spread over the road, solidifying as it made contact with the cold surfaces. End result was that we had the road covered with solid "lard" about a foot deep and everyone was coated in it. We eventually had to call in the Hans Kerber, the roads foreman, who arranged for for a tractor shovel and lorries, but they had to tip tons of grit into the sludge before it could be lifted. the fire brigade then had to come and attempt to hose the residue of the oil from the road as the place was like a skating rink.
The other tanker crash we had was when one BP petrol tanker skidded on sheet ice, like we have at the moment, overturned and ended up against the wall of a house in Carlops Road about 5.30 a.m. one morning. The residents had no idea what had happened and we were were panicking as we were expecting the second tanker which was following about 20 minutes behind.
The good news today was that Steven (Micky) and Sabrina McManus became parents again yesterday when Sabrina had another wee boy, Arron, weight 7lb 12 oz - well done !! Now that the bump has gone I might soon be in for another session with Cruella, In the meantime, the "Luscious" Melissa, has got me earmarked for a session ( Mother's day special !! - no) on Tuesday morning, which might be my only day off before we head off to the sun next Sunday.
Good day ' Great evening
Happy chicken today , bit tired but had an extra hour this morning .
Thursday was good, headed off on schedule and as soon as I hit the M8 , there they were , the white van men , all high as kites, adrenaline running and passing everything in sight . There is no need for the sports world to support the Grand prix circuits , you just need to line up on the motorway bridges and watch these maniacs at work - only difference is that they do not have helmets on or radio mikes, they just use mobiles glued to their ears.
There was also an abundance of the dreaded black Range Rovers / Jeeps / and BMW X thingies all trying to run over the poor wee Ford which was doing its best.
However, Fraser was in good form in Glasgow, and as I headed south the skies lightened and opened up to a beautiful morning. Heading for Carlisle I was treated to a majestic vista of Scarfell, capped in snow, possibly the clearest I have seen it in several years doing these runs down the M74 / M6. No real problems, but these long stretches of road works with the average speed cameras is a bit of a pain, although it does not seem to deter the white van men and the range rovers. On the stretch south of Carlisle there was note saying that 5099 motorists had been fined so far while the roadworks were in place !! make the local finance Department happy.
Into Runcorn, the lovely Jill there to greet me and get everyone sorted as usual. Dick Turpin's sisters were both back in the canteen and shop, but denied having been released from prison again !! Sue, unfortunately is off in to hospital next week, so I wish her a speedy recovery - we will miss you.
No incidents on the way home, apart from the toilet at the Shell Garage, Metal Bridge, Carlisle, being closed again , so it was a crossed leg job, foot to the floor and headed for Glasgow at top speed!! bringing tears to the eye.
made it home in one piece, and power napped before taking Mr McEwans luxury coach into town to get to The Mercat Bar for the wine tasting dinner.
What a treat, Avocado Dips, Olives, Oil and crusty bread to nibble ; spicy king prawns; chicken and orange salad; onion and tomato soup with a pesto topping; trout; plum tart; and a cheese board - all to compliment seven lovely Californian wines.
Those who attended were raving about the food and service, just a pity that several called off at the last minute - their loss was my gain , as they say, as we got extras.
For some reason - best known to himself, the photographer ( not me last night) did not manage to get any snaps worth using today, pity.
Otherwise, William and Sandra back from the sun , while Grant and EEYvonne head off into the horizon - me . I may just make for The Mercat to see what is happening.
Thursday was good, headed off on schedule and as soon as I hit the M8 , there they were , the white van men , all high as kites, adrenaline running and passing everything in sight . There is no need for the sports world to support the Grand prix circuits , you just need to line up on the motorway bridges and watch these maniacs at work - only difference is that they do not have helmets on or radio mikes, they just use mobiles glued to their ears.
There was also an abundance of the dreaded black Range Rovers / Jeeps / and BMW X thingies all trying to run over the poor wee Ford which was doing its best.
However, Fraser was in good form in Glasgow, and as I headed south the skies lightened and opened up to a beautiful morning. Heading for Carlisle I was treated to a majestic vista of Scarfell, capped in snow, possibly the clearest I have seen it in several years doing these runs down the M74 / M6. No real problems, but these long stretches of road works with the average speed cameras is a bit of a pain, although it does not seem to deter the white van men and the range rovers. On the stretch south of Carlisle there was note saying that 5099 motorists had been fined so far while the roadworks were in place !! make the local finance Department happy.
Into Runcorn, the lovely Jill there to greet me and get everyone sorted as usual. Dick Turpin's sisters were both back in the canteen and shop, but denied having been released from prison again !! Sue, unfortunately is off in to hospital next week, so I wish her a speedy recovery - we will miss you.
No incidents on the way home, apart from the toilet at the Shell Garage, Metal Bridge, Carlisle, being closed again , so it was a crossed leg job, foot to the floor and headed for Glasgow at top speed!! bringing tears to the eye.
made it home in one piece, and power napped before taking Mr McEwans luxury coach into town to get to The Mercat Bar for the wine tasting dinner.
What a treat, Avocado Dips, Olives, Oil and crusty bread to nibble ; spicy king prawns; chicken and orange salad; onion and tomato soup with a pesto topping; trout; plum tart; and a cheese board - all to compliment seven lovely Californian wines.
Those who attended were raving about the food and service, just a pity that several called off at the last minute - their loss was my gain , as they say, as we got extras.
For some reason - best known to himself, the photographer ( not me last night) did not manage to get any snaps worth using today, pity.
Otherwise, William and Sandra back from the sun , while Grant and EEYvonne head off into the horizon - me . I may just make for The Mercat to see what is happening.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Well practiced
Looks like yesterday's training session !!! stood me in good stead. Wide awake at 3.30 a.m. again , up before the alrm and now ready for the off.
Hopefully Fraser will be quick once I get to Glasgow, so i can make it South to runcorn , than doubless today , back to Glasgow andd home. Plans are to grab an hours kip and then toodle into the Mercat Bar for tonights wine tasing session . Hopefully a long lie on Friday - but tell the old bones what that means.
Hopefully Fraser will be quick once I get to Glasgow, so i can make it South to runcorn , than doubless today , back to Glasgow andd home. Plans are to grab an hours kip and then toodle into the Mercat Bar for tonights wine tasing session . Hopefully a long lie on Friday - but tell the old bones what that means.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Sunshine and perma frost
Home, feet up and allegedly chilling before the long run a.m. to Runcorn.
Mercat bar was busy today, and we were joined by Kirsty, having a try out to see how she got on - might have helped if we had known she was coming as I had her kitted out to help in the kitchen !! before we realised she was supposed to be helping me.
Managed to get a haircut by Ali at the Salon cafe by 0830 before the bar was open and she was fully awake! No, she was awake and did a good job for me.
On the way home passed Donaldsons College which I have always loved as amajestic building, Designed by William Mayfair and built in the 1840's, it was the country's leading college for the deaf until Cala Homes did a deal and bought it for redevelopment, housing the school in new premises in Livingston. There has not been much work done on the internal conversions to 70 flats since 2006, but new homes have been built to the rear.
One of the BBC weather men , did they not get a bonus recently, suggested that we may have a touch of frost this morning - which aprt of the UK was he talikng about ? we have a permafrost up here in Scotland which will takes ages to thaw out and no doubt cause flooding in the process.
Came down Lowries den, the piled up snow is brick hard, lord knows how many cars have fallen foul due to skidding and been damaged.
Might cheer up William and Sandra who are due back from sunnier climes on Friday, but hot off the press this picture of William has just arrrived- not sure if he was sheltering from the sun, the villa was cold or what - but the red wine looks good.
Cheery e mail from the Old yin, Andrew Stewart, who wrote the wee book on The Harbours of East Lothian who is now a popular speaker on the local circuits giving talks and slide shows of his various trips and projects.
Of harbours, the boat was in the inner harbour beside the Brittania when we were down at Ocean Terminal on Sunday, but we never got the name to research it.
Beat the birdie's again - lots on the mind, 720 and all.
No point in lying in bed when I have been wide awake since 3.30 a.m. !! Even the larks / or Robin Red Breast is still tucked up in their nests, and just think I will need to be up and away before this tomorrow on my way to Glasgow and Runcorn, Oh the joys of semi retirement.
However, yesterday was steady in The Mercat Bar for lunch, but when RGB returned I did not hang about. headed to see the delightful Ali @ Salon Cafe who had promised to cut my hair, however, happily for her, she was busy - so it was home wards I sped.
preparing myself for the evening's meeting at 720, I took a serious mental block and totally forgot what i was supposed to say - bit of a panic , calmed down and then wrote it all down, before heading for Bonnyrigg.
Full house last night at Dalhousie 720, with over one hundred present for a Third degree which was excellent for everyone, especially the candidate, a soldier who is departing soon for overseas duties.
I do not think that the RMW Craig Gordon planned it specifically, but four of his five officers who did the floor lectures were members of RA 500, three being PZ's, which was nice. Even better was the fact that the brothers Mooney, Alex and Willie both did ritual - excellent.
Have to say that despite years of practice I still have not got it right on the night !!
The entire membership wished the candidate well on his next tour of duty and hoped that he made a speedy and safe return to both 720 and the Province.
Anyway, woke up thinking about the ongoing saga with Edinburgh Council, now into month 56, soon be time to bake another cake !! Mrs B. had commented about some ongoing meetings taking place within the Organisation, covering issues which she had raised with the same managers over FIVE years ago - and at that time they did not wish to know, heads buried in the sand and not wanting to listen, now they need to borrow the snow shovels to try and dig themselves out an even bigger hole.
Lovely letter from the Brand Manager at Glenton Tours / Good Companions in relation to comments recently made about the tour via Crieff and the stay at the Fisher's Hotel, Pitlochry.
It appears that they agree with our letter and appreciated the recommendations made - good.
Photos arrived on facebook from Rob and Caitlin, in the Land of Oz, she is radiant as ever, while Robbo, the upside down boy just does not get any better - at least we have a hint that they are getting married in April 2011 - so we might need to start saving for the bus fare - as my bus pass is not recognised by Quantas.
Off to the Bar soon, need to have a power nap today with a long run tomorrow and hopefully make it to the Californian Wine tasting night tomorrow - might even manage a day off on Friday!!
Bearing in mind yesterday's comments about parole boards, etc , I see that one of young Jamie Bulger's muderers is now back behind bars for breaching his conditions of release. Considering how much has been spent on this murdering scumbag to keep him in anonymity within society, we arewasting our time with some folks who are just inherintly evil.
However, yesterday was steady in The Mercat Bar for lunch, but when RGB returned I did not hang about. headed to see the delightful Ali @ Salon Cafe who had promised to cut my hair, however, happily for her, she was busy - so it was home wards I sped.
preparing myself for the evening's meeting at 720, I took a serious mental block and totally forgot what i was supposed to say - bit of a panic , calmed down and then wrote it all down, before heading for Bonnyrigg.
Full house last night at Dalhousie 720, with over one hundred present for a Third degree which was excellent for everyone, especially the candidate, a soldier who is departing soon for overseas duties.
I do not think that the RMW Craig Gordon planned it specifically, but four of his five officers who did the floor lectures were members of RA 500, three being PZ's, which was nice. Even better was the fact that the brothers Mooney, Alex and Willie both did ritual - excellent.
Have to say that despite years of practice I still have not got it right on the night !!
The entire membership wished the candidate well on his next tour of duty and hoped that he made a speedy and safe return to both 720 and the Province.
Anyway, woke up thinking about the ongoing saga with Edinburgh Council, now into month 56, soon be time to bake another cake !! Mrs B. had commented about some ongoing meetings taking place within the Organisation, covering issues which she had raised with the same managers over FIVE years ago - and at that time they did not wish to know, heads buried in the sand and not wanting to listen, now they need to borrow the snow shovels to try and dig themselves out an even bigger hole.
Lovely letter from the Brand Manager at Glenton Tours / Good Companions in relation to comments recently made about the tour via Crieff and the stay at the Fisher's Hotel, Pitlochry.
It appears that they agree with our letter and appreciated the recommendations made - good.
Photos arrived on facebook from Rob and Caitlin, in the Land of Oz, she is radiant as ever, while Robbo, the upside down boy just does not get any better - at least we have a hint that they are getting married in April 2011 - so we might need to start saving for the bus fare - as my bus pass is not recognised by Quantas.
Off to the Bar soon, need to have a power nap today with a long run tomorrow and hopefully make it to the Californian Wine tasting night tomorrow - might even manage a day off on Friday!!
Bearing in mind yesterday's comments about parole boards, etc , I see that one of young Jamie Bulger's muderers is now back behind bars for breaching his conditions of release. Considering how much has been spent on this murdering scumbag to keep him in anonymity within society, we arewasting our time with some folks who are just inherintly evil.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Stressed out in the sunshine
Tuesday 11.a.m. and presently counting to ten, then backwards, the forwards, etc, in an attempt to calm down.
So much for having a stress free day off !!
Monday, on the other hand was fine, up early, rather chilly, and into The Mercat for an open and a shift there, making home about 4.30 p.m. End result, bit tired so it was a quiet night in front of the TV, missing out on a 720 deputation to No 10 Dalkeith.
I see that Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, has asked the court to declare a minimum period of imprisonment !! I think that when lawyers go to appeal and/ or when parole boards let these creeps out of prison early, should they reoffend then the lawyer / parole board member should be put back in prison with the offender.
The earthquake in Chile, very much greater in magnitude that Haiti has fortunately cased fewer deaths due to the wider spread and less populated areas affected, however the surface damage is much , much greater.
Checking out the Geological Centre site at Edinburgh University, Kings Buildings, they have a running tally of earthquakes, there were over thirty in a 24 hour period, mainly down the west coast of the Americas, but with others off Japan , in the Caribbean and the Solomon Islands. We also had one recently in Blackford, Central Scotland.
So back to today, an absolutely beautiful morning, sun up early and days getting longer, very cold and clear, but nice. So up sharp, did some chores in the house, deiced the INSIDE of the windscreen along with the rest of the car, off to Tesco's for emergency supplies, next stop the swimming pool which was busy - so it was heat instead and s short swim. Next , into Kings Buildings, then headed for a parking space - where troubles began - having this latent hatred for the Morrisonon Street Car park, NCP, I managed, eventually to get a space at Russell road, Roseburn , then jumped on a bus to go to the Mercat , BUT the bus sailed right past the bar and dropped me off at the West End, as far past in the opposite direction . Annoyed - the understatement of the day !! Then found that Ali the hairdresser was busy so my early arrival was all to no avail.
However, writing being therapeutic, I have calmed down for the meantime - how long that will last I do not know.
Have some ritual to do tonight at No 720 Dalhousie Bonnyrigg which is not helping the blood pressure.
Anyway, work to do.
So much for having a stress free day off !!
Monday, on the other hand was fine, up early, rather chilly, and into The Mercat for an open and a shift there, making home about 4.30 p.m. End result, bit tired so it was a quiet night in front of the TV, missing out on a 720 deputation to No 10 Dalkeith.
I see that Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, has asked the court to declare a minimum period of imprisonment !! I think that when lawyers go to appeal and/ or when parole boards let these creeps out of prison early, should they reoffend then the lawyer / parole board member should be put back in prison with the offender.
The earthquake in Chile, very much greater in magnitude that Haiti has fortunately cased fewer deaths due to the wider spread and less populated areas affected, however the surface damage is much , much greater.
Checking out the Geological Centre site at Edinburgh University, Kings Buildings, they have a running tally of earthquakes, there were over thirty in a 24 hour period, mainly down the west coast of the Americas, but with others off Japan , in the Caribbean and the Solomon Islands. We also had one recently in Blackford, Central Scotland.
So back to today, an absolutely beautiful morning, sun up early and days getting longer, very cold and clear, but nice. So up sharp, did some chores in the house, deiced the INSIDE of the windscreen along with the rest of the car, off to Tesco's for emergency supplies, next stop the swimming pool which was busy - so it was heat instead and s short swim. Next , into Kings Buildings, then headed for a parking space - where troubles began - having this latent hatred for the Morrisonon Street Car park, NCP, I managed, eventually to get a space at Russell road, Roseburn , then jumped on a bus to go to the Mercat , BUT the bus sailed right past the bar and dropped me off at the West End, as far past in the opposite direction . Annoyed - the understatement of the day !! Then found that Ali the hairdresser was busy so my early arrival was all to no avail.
However, writing being therapeutic, I have calmed down for the meantime - how long that will last I do not know.
Have some ritual to do tonight at No 720 Dalhousie Bonnyrigg which is not helping the blood pressure.
Anyway, work to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)