Random, rambling thoughts of

I must be falling by the wayside when I am getting phone calls to ask where the last blog has gone !!!
so this will be a series of random thoughts, and in no particular order.

Been to the Squaremen , now relocated to the Royal Scots Club at Haymarket.,    a wee run up to Crieff to see Kenny Jack being reinstalled into the chair at the RA there, and have managed to make it to three different OES meetings, at Portobello, Mid Calder and Bonnyrigg.  Having said that I missed RA at Esk 42; Currie; and Tranent (apologies); and also a ARPOS,   AGM at Fettes last Sunday,   but I cannot be everywhere, and with three different events taking place at the same time which straw do I draw.

Feeling surprisingly good, no blips since my last 24 hr stay in the hospital, so that was obviously the side effects of a virus, which has since cleared from my system.  
Struggling seriously with the "Mindfulness" project,  too many butterflies in the cranium to allow me to sit at peace for more than thirty seconds.

Had a return visit to my "alternative medicine man" who seemed to think I was doing well since my first visit  and if his computer was not "rigged" then I am showing signs of recovery, certainly feeling better/ and calmer !!.

Tuesday, sun was shining so I had a pleasant run down to Duns to see Andy at Border Bikes,  as he was on his own we had time for lunch , a blether before the Steed had an oil change and tweek,   and with a wee bit of luck there might well be an addition to the "stable" in the near future.

SO, bearing that in mind I have spent nearly two days gutting the garage to make room - job well done - amazing what you find and have been hoarding "just in case " for twenty years!!!! and never used, so off to the skip or the charity shop.   Eight pairs of rugby boots !!!!!

Headed to Ocean Terminal yesterday, Edinburgh - a CITY UNDER SEIGE - traffic ground to a halt at Bilston due to the ongoing gas works on the A701,  for TWO MONTHS - bloody chaos - just wonder how much revenue ASDA is losing??   It is a nightmare, so with a long detour ended up stuck in traffic again in Leith Walk -  how many more businesses are going down the tubes to satisfy the ego and errors of our City Fathers ??  who - have just made application for £200 million to get the City Roads back into shape again -   SO one might ask - would they have been in such a s**t state if they had not spent £760 million on the tram project.   Personally _ I avoid Edinburgh like the plague and it is only through necessity I go anywhere near the place.

About to start packing the case for a few days away, looking forward to that soon.

Electoral Register - what a carry on -  now we have to "op out" form the "open Register" which is the one the Councils must sell on to businesses - so opt out now and hopefully cut down on the number of "cold calls/ nuisance calls" we get.      Just a shame that our homes are also now under seige - if I do not recognise the phone number - or witheld- no pick up and the caller can go onto ansaphone - and I will reply.
My Tesco diddle today was actually pointed out to me by a member of staff,   two single packets of digestive biscuits on an offer - yellow tags, great deal -  BUT  next to it, a twin pack of the same biscuits even cheaper !!   and TESCO have had to suspend Directors who made a wee accounting error of Lord knows how many £millions.

Really odd - sitting here with three lap tops doing different things, and for no reason all my current open, new E mails have disappeared - I am still on AOL who is owned by Talk Talk or whoever, but service is crap, and expensive.

Bank of England have announced latest round of interest rates, etc -  no change -   so how come some of the businesses we deal with have increased theri charges from 4% to 25% -  bit of a joke - may be to some but not to the majority.

EBOLA virus,  along with the publicity is causing a great deal of concern,  caused by fruit bats, and also by a seious lack of hygiene in Zaire, spreading throughout the region due to physical contact with the blood and body fluids -  we ( the UK) appear to be doing more to assist than may other European countries.
So - here we are part of the Euro Zone, governed and inflicted by their incessant stream of gobbledygook and trivia - putting up with low powered vacume cleaners, expensive light bulbs, and an immigration policy that is costing the UK an absolute fortune. If you are British, white, born in the Uk, get to the back of the queue.

News tonight that farmers are taking action against the supermarkets who are now charging less for a litre of milk than a litre of water!!

Mercat Grill ticking along nicely, full house already for X mas day, so have a waiting list, just in case.  Lovely customers which makes it all worth while.

Sadly - have to report that we attempted to have breakfast at Frankie and Benny's,  ocean Terminal yesterday ( only our 2nd visit to this Franchise)  and we were BLANKED by staff - stood standing there and felt like the Invisible man - not good, so we had breakfast in Debenham's Cafe where the ladies made us welcome and all was good.
Cannot remember the name of the shoe shop on the first floor beside Waterson's,  but staff were brilliant.

Anyway,  time for bed,  no idea if I am meeting up with Dougz or Co in the Scottish motorcycle Touring Group over the weekend while the weather holds.   Wait and see.

Blackness Castle between showers (heavy ones)

Making up for a period of absence -    Met up this afternoon with Tom and Dougz at Blackness where, due to the heavy rain we found ourselves in Bo'Ness for coffee and scones.  However the rain cleared so we headed back for our photoshoot at the castle, which dates back to the 15th century. A very extensive history which saw it used a  castle, jail, attacked, seiged, and latterly as  Scoltland's main munitions Depot from 1874 to the end of WW1 - probably very handy for the naval dockyard at Rosyth just across the water - as are the two Forth Bridges and the third one now under construction.

 

Tom has several other photos which will be reproduced on the Scottish Motorcycle Touring Group  facebook.

Must have been a long hard day

Losing track of the days,  think it must be Thursday , and just back in from  a RA meeting at Gorebridge where Sparky Mark received honorary membership of the RA  - well done.   Been busy but with little to show so far, tired but still standing and feeling much better than several months ago.

Had a wee run or two out on the Steed of steel,  short runs but pleasant taking the back roads around Temple, Gladhouse and Portmore , easy to get lost but scenic and intersting.

Mercat Grill doing well, and as usual, new faces every week, some tourists , but lovely to see the locals returning after several years absence.

Super article in the new edition of Police World, the IPA magazine, about our trip to Europe and the Dolomites with the Scottish Motorcycle Touring Group in June this year, penned by our own Tom McInally, who sadly will be leaving us soon to relocate in the south west of France.

Had a brief visit from my Best man, Graeme Mackay,  bearing venison and trout,  looking well despite having a fall and ending up on crutches,  bit older than me ( 10 days)  still working very hard and refusing his bus pass !!

Ladies had an excellent trip to Amsterdam, one of the mini cruises from Newcastle,  great three days, train to and from Edinburgh ( thanks to Allison and Russell),  weather was good, bus and barge tour of Amsterdam - nice wee breeak for the them.

RGB back from China where he, along with Brian Maynard and Brian Millar, did their 100 mile walk along eight sections of the Great Wall - each day they walked a sectrion and then were driven for about three to four hours  to a new overnight stay before doing the next bit -  marvellous opportuity to see rural China, live with families , (use the loal community latrine - poo - pongy)   but at the end of the day they raised £12000 for Clik Sergeant charity.

Many many returns of the day to our friend Paul Douglas who was 60 last week and retired last week.  He has bought a beautiful new two berth caravan -  owever, nice as it is, he joins the multitude of tortoise people" who I was always harranging for holding up traffic when I was on my routine runs South on the motorway.

Andy murray doing well again at the tennis,  might pop in for a coffee at the Cromlix Hotel next week on my way to Crieff next week, and with a bit luck get served this time.   So far score sits at Cromlix 30 - Blaikie  0.

Must have been really excited writing the above as I fell asleeep and awoke at 2 a.m. computer on my knee !!!!!!

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x

Gets harder as time passes.

Once again, seems an age since I last posted,  however, no sign of my name in the Evening news, which I check daily to make sure I am still in the land of the living - and as somebody said to me recently  "better to be seen and heard"  than "viewed".    Could say that there has a lot going on  - dirty word  "WORK", which for some might be a shock to the system, but for me, two years past retirement age is just a daily occurrance - problem being that the "old physique" is not up to the current stresses and strains so it gets harder every day.

Just love the one eyed teddy bear in the Thompson's holiday advert - not really a strange change of topic  as I have managed to book a holiday at long last, roll on end of October.

But, in the meantime RGB and friends have just completed their walk along various sectrions of the Great Wall of China, most certainly NOT a picnic, hard work, accommodation not quite four star, or even one star, cabbage soup, cucumbers, etc, motorbikes in the dining room, and massive steps on the wall, big question was how did the wee chappies manage all those years ago?

Ryder Cup starts tomorrow at Gleneagles, marvellous bit of advertising for Scotland and the hotel will get loads of custom over next few years - even Edinburgh hotels are making a mint from the visitors "every oen a winner".

Referendum over, good result for "No",  Westminster and apparently our good Queen happy with the result  BUT - wait and see !!!   SNP membership is swelling , so next general Election Scotland will be SNP and Labour, few Greens (not cabbage) and Tories will be nowhere to be seen.   In all probability, had the SNP been able to answer some of the improbabables before the Reforendum the oldies would have been swung and there could well have been a YES,   now Ms Sturgeon and her troops have a bit more time to get sorted before the next one.

Andy Murry dropped to No 11 in the World tennis rankings, good job his hotel is doing better,  however, will be interesting to see if his support of the YES vote has a detrimental effect on the voting for his Ma in the Stricktly Come dancing.

Edinburgh Council have just released their latest round of price increases and service cuts, great plans to repair the roads - HAVE YOU TRIED DRIVING INTO THE CITY?  bloody nightmare -  but no mention of the slight overspend and ongoing financial nightmares of Tram works - if we believe what we are told trams are very busy,  BUT - will they ever make money ?

Mrs B and friends are presently heading homewards in the North Sea, just hope there are no renegade U boats lurking out there looking for an easy target!!  safe journey ladies.

Masonic season back in full swing again, so back to the  RA, wee change of office after the Installation,   missing out on my return trip to India with the Supreme First Principal, shame.

Been out with the Steed of Steel, but not as often as I would have liked,  just need a bit more time and an open window with the weather and the open road is ours once again.

So - still up and running -  but a bit slower than normal.

Not just any old Sunday

Sunday night, feet up watching TV after a good day, weatherwise, and out and about.
Took myself off a.m. with Tom McInally on the steeds and after an emergency run to the Grill with a fresh batch of meringues out by Vogrie, Gorebridge and Middleton making for Innerleithen.  Out in the middle of the moors, three more bl**dy wind turbines,  what an eyesore - no wind no lecky, too much wind, switch off, too much lecky, turn off and happy days for the owners with subsidies pouring into the back pocket !!     Innerleithen, as usual, mountain bikes everywhere as groups headed in and out of Glentress and other parks around the town.  Back road along by Traquair House and Kelzie Gardens to Peebles, and then onto the Glasgow road for Biggar.
Just leaving Peebles and were zapped by two police officers with a radar gun, no idea if we were "done" but hope not as we were just leaving the 30 zone.  Which reminds me - Police Scotland have now registered as a cash making organisation -   coincides with a directive from Mr House's office that dedicated firearms officers will also carry radar guns and are expected to get four speeders a shift, I would hate to be the poor soul who is on the receiving end if the officer pulls the wrong trigger!!
AND on the Dolphinston straight, the speed camera van was out touting for business, obviously the police will have a strong case for their actions -   BUT.  How can the police justify someone in a call centre calling complainers to say they are unable to attend complaints, and at the same time go for the bean counting (  one speeder equals one solved crime).

Sick to the teeth with the incessant politics around the YES / No Referendum, no one cares about telling the truth, yobbish behaviour from some elements, and despite being a proud Scot I am worried stiff that it goes horribly wrong -  as some one has already said we will be dependent on immigrants to boost the workforce in the future.  Been in the bank recently and watched large sums of money being withdrawn - some most certainly destined for foreign homes.

On a more serious note, the IS campaign in the Middle east is nothing but pure unadulterated murder, without reason whatsoever - just well organised terrorism and with no connection to religion. Newspapers have described the recent killings of journalists and aid workers as executions -  NO  just plain MURDER,   an execution is usually carried out on an individual because of their criminal actions.    The International community has to stand up and be counted -   but I suppose if we have a YES vote, our leaders, having gotten rid of Trident to its new base in the USA, probably disbanded the military or turned them into a civil defence force, opened our borders to immigrants, will not really be interested in foreign affairs. DREAD.

Ongoing saga.

Past in a flash, yet another week away, and what do I have to show for it ?   Work, work and more work, and meetings.        Tuesday night had a branch meeting of the IPA at the Grill,  certainly been a busy time with lots of overseas visitors to Edinburgh,  but how this is managed in the future remains to be seen.
Our long term cleaner in the Grill eventually retired this week,  she has been there for over twenty years, and the last three with us, - She will be missed, but is now needed to help more at home.

Friday night , first of the R.A. Installations, Gorebridge Dundas with John Scott taking the chair and giving up his post as Secretary. Did not stay for the social side  but no doubt it wasa great evening, not sure if Sparky has made it home yet !!

Saturday, headed down to North Berwick for a wee course held in the "Barefoot Sanctuary", what a lovely building, a super facility, well used by several groups practicing yoga, pilateas, etc, and as the name suggests, shoes off at the door.
There was a half marathon through East lothian, but I hear that they added an  extra four hundred yards to it, which has caused a bit of consternation to those who keep precice times of their runs, unlike myself who used to be quite happy to stagger my way round the route -  yesterday I managed part of the route, but on my motorcycle.

Andy Murray  knocked out the tennis again, hopefully his mother Judy will do a bit better at the "Stricktly Come Dancing" which starts tonight.  I actually saw her in person last weekend heading home from the gym - looking fit.

Grill is getting busier and busier, a good sign, but hard work.

Coming up this week , a trip to carlisle to meet with more IPA motorcyclists and explore the Lake District, something to look forward to.

A quick catch up, maybe to build up on later.

Just been informed that I have been falling behind with my writings !!!    But we have been busy this past two weeks.   All started with a last minute trip to London to celebrate our wedding anniversay so visited famil. Started a hectic few days , trips to Woking, Kingston upon Thames, Brooklands race track with its museum,  Concord; and many attractions.    Home again week past Sunday,  then mid week William and Sandra made it here to Penicuik, and we started our wee outings to the Falkirk Wheel; the Skelpies; Forth Bridge at South Queensferry and later to North Queensferry, Gleneagles, etc.
Had met up with the IPA motorcycle group at South Queensferry for a meeting, and also as a reception party for a group of German IPA motorcyclists,  but had to leave and I missed them by a matter of minutes.
Big event of the weekend was attending the wedding of our Neice Christina to Martin , the ceremony held in the beautiful chapel within Glasgow University, followed by a marvellous gathering and meal at the Aaron Mor in Byres Road, Glasgow.    Fabulous day and so nice to meet up with family and friends.  We stayed at the Millenium Hotel in George Square which was really handy for wandering around the city centre.

On our way home on Sunday we detoured via The Gleneagles Hotel where they are busy getting organised for the forthcoming Ryder Cup golf challange. I did not fully appreciate the history of Gleneagles and its amazing connection with golf, not only a beautiful hotel but an amazing place.

Had to give the Sunday run out with the IPA group a miss this weekend although they did have a great day out ending up at Loch Katrine -  but as it was I had a sqiffy tyre which was fixed this morning, so maybe it was just as well.