Not much better

In all aspects things did not get much better.

Terribe tragedy with Phil O'Donnell the Motherwell player, aged 35 dying during the game on Saturday.
Now Monday p.m., on Sunday Ann slept while I did the cash and carry again and went to the Sportsmans till mid afternoon. Then home and had another quiet night with her dozing and not right. Tried to get an early night but was wakened by the phone a couple of times.
Terrible night - restless and up and down every hour - bloddy shattered this morning.
Today, up sharp, took Graham into town to the Mercat, headed to cash and carry, bank, then the pub where I met Robbie and Karen. Robbie has had the 36 hour bug, and now his mate, arrived from Oz has the same.
Did odds and ends but as I am out there tonight headed home to get a rest, but Ann still in bed with bad headaches and refusing to speak to the doctor.
Anyway, about to tidy up, get fed and then off to get involved in the Hogmanay festivities.

All the best.

It can only get better - i hope

Some thoughts on Saturday, bloddy hell, no, no, and why me !!

Up early and away to the cash and carry with Ann to get stuff for both pubs, dropped a load off at the mercat, then Ann in Edinburgh at the shops and I went to Musselburgh.
Arriver, and only the cleaner, Chick, in, at 10.35 a.m. Next thing in they came, the punters for the races, but at the same time Michelle. We got hammered for an hour and a half till the majority left for the track, but by them help ( Princess) had arrived.
I went back to town to retrieve Ann and then out to Costco for more stuff.

Home - time to calm down, but no - went upstairs and found Ann ill, having nearly passed out due to taking too hot a bath, then she was sick, so my evening was spent checking on her recovery (and looking for the insurance policies) , not rue. Anyway she is slowly recovering, but is still not right yet.
1.10 a.m. Elaine called from the Pub - they had been busy and she was struggling to get the place sorted as Samantha had also taken ill.

Now - i need a quieter day.

Is it bluey recincarnated?

Having mentioned the bird on several occasions I managed to get it to pose for me this morning. It is very tame and comes down each day to feed outside the door of the pub, possibly watching for Chick to make sure he is working or to see if he is going to invite it in for a drink. Anyway, we have a bag of bird food so we try to feed it in such a way that the seagulls do not come over and annoy us or it.

Pub was fairly busy on Thurday night, but Michelle had to leave early to look after her totty wee one who was playing up, and his sister was having nightmares after someone told her ghost sories.

Went out to Musselburgh this morning to sort out banking, wages, etc. but had to scoot up the road sharp to get to the Penicuik bank before closing. This meant that I was able to watch the Sinbad movie followed by James Bond in Octopussy.

Missed Robbie who had abandoned his father to the terrors of visiting Edinburgh alone, but I am sure he will have managed ( he is a bit like Crockodile Dundee) I think they were off to see Edinburgh rugby this evening, and then have Musselburgh races on Saturday.

So far I have now coughed for three weeks and am getting a trifle p*****d off with the whole thing, as is my wife. We had a call from her friend Carol tonight who sounds worse than me - so where does that put me.

Tomorrow is another day, cash and carry, pub, work, etc. so what's new, I mean we have never mentioned the fact that yesterday there was an assination in Pakistan which has mass ive implications for the world, we have floods, earthquakes, a man caught up a chimney in Australia trying to break into a house, and two poor folks drowned in a cave inYorkshire where I did all my caving years ago.

Every last drop

This was Robbie attempting to finish off our bottle of sambuca at the x-mas dinner. Whilst others were content with a glass , the bold Antipodean decided that this was an acceptable part of his national culture - fortunately the ladies in the company were not photographed followingb his example, ( but being truthful most, in fact everyone did).

Lovely stuff, the black stuff, which reminded me of my trip to London several months ago when five of us sat in my brother in laws new local pub, and had five rounds of shots on the trop, much to the mesmeriation of the locals.

In this instance, at x-mas we took the event a stage further by mixing it with Stiffy,s cola cube, which as a tastful mixture was worse than that carvonia cough medicine, but a bit more effective, also made you fall down after several attempts.

Boxing day onwards

Had a lovely dinner last night, having had a quiet day, Graham, Andrea and Sir Christopher Reid arrived, so we had lovely steaks washed down with copious draught's of "vino tinto.

To bed at a reasonable hour, and did not cough till 2.30 a.m when i had to get up and have a hot drink, etc, rest of the night was a washout, restless and stressed out.

Now at the Sportsman's, where I have been all day.
Obviously managed to get a new keyboard to replace Robbie's damp one.
Pub was fairly quiet so I went to Cash and Carry only to find on my return that the annual pub crawl crowd had arrived unannounced - Michelle R nearly had a fit when about 40 walked in , however Jackie Macnamara gallantly jumped into the breach. By the time I arrived they were just finishing their drinks and leaving to head for the next 16 pubs!!

Hopefully another quiet evening.

Happy x-mas / Boxing day

Folks, there is just too much to do, so sorry I missed a x-mas day post, however if Robbie had not poured a bottle of beer over the keyboard at the Sportsmans there would have been a bit more news.

Graham ended up in the Western General Hospital on x-mas eve afternoon, where he had an abscess on his chest cut and drained - so I was busy scooting about with him and Ann before I headed to work at the Sportsmans. A nice wee crowd, with just the inkling of trouble but it did not come to much, I would think not with Simon and me on the door. We closed the bar at 12.30 a.m x-mas day so I was able to get off up the road and left karen, Karen and Kerrin to close up for me.

Up again to see if Santa had called, however, I was running out of time and could see no trace of a sledge or reindeer droppings!! Ann made a big breakfast (traditional) which we washed down with a wee drop bubbly, only minutes before Robbie, Caitlion, Phil and Debbie arrived to pick me up for work at Musselburgh.

Headed to the pub, whichj was all spick and span thanks to Chick and Paul who had come in to work (x-mas day) without being asked. Robbie and I got the place opened up and some of our regulars appeared.

We seem to have adopted a white pidgeon, whether it is a reincarnation of Bluey, i do not know. But it now lives on the window ledge above the pub, but comes down to the street to get fed.

Closed up at 3.30 p.m., haveing emptied the pub by putting on the Queens speech at high volume.

Headed to the Mercat where we met up with everyone else and sat down to a wonderful dinner prepared by jamie and Ann, however, feeling a bit unwell, as was Graham we had to leave at 7.45 p.m. and left everyone to be cheery - I think from the state of them this morning they were just a bit too cheery.

made it home where we found that Santa had been a calling - so opened up our presents, very nice ( socks, more socks, smelly stuff, books, CD's, wine, etc ) what more can a man want. However still feeling a bit off I went to bed at 9.10 p.m.

Today has been quiet, I had to take Graham into The Mercat, roads were quiet but there were a few in for breakfast - fortunately not too busy as the Jamie and Claire were just a bit delicate and operating at about 70% of normal speed ( that's me being kind) - so it is now time to rest before work again tomorrow.

Our Antipodean friends seem to be a bit quiet, but they were still hard at it at 1 a.m.

Cheers.

Kind of hectic

How time flies when you are busy, I have just realised how many days I have missed.

Friday I was in town for RA meeting during the day , then headed to Musselburgh to do an evening shift in the Pub. Fairly quiet , although I didhave to fling out a few rowdy individuals and even had a couple of ladies have a wee domestic.

Saturday, it was back to the pub where we were busy with the football , home and feet up.

Sunday was staff day out and x-mas dinner, so we all went to the mercat and had a great time. Joined by Robbie's dad who has been trailing round europe for a few weeks and is here for the New year then back to Oz.

Need more time to work on this, but not now

Cheers.

Another chilly one

Still freezing, with parts of the street in the shade getting no respite from the cold.

Scooted into town a.m. to do the Cash and carry run for the Mercat - certainly a quick one as i was to get back to see my Doctor. He was a bit concerned that I was still ill after the trip to India so a wee sample was required !!

Ann and I went to see how Pamela was getting on with her "stookie" - she is fine, still got the big palster but the surgery on her ankle was a success so now only time will tell. Ricky is having to run all the errands, but is managing valiantly.

Watched Aberdeen eventually hammer the Danish team in the UEFA cup tie - 4 - 0, good game.

Still no word from Mr Karabin, despite me calling the USA last night to waken him up - seems that he is working tons of hours for his new firm -all in the name of "teamwork".

Long day on Friday, of to George Street for meeting of SGRACS, then down to Musselburgh for the evening and a close.

Rob's birthday, Shaun,and things

What a day, up early, freexing cold but car started (Ford) as BMW was away getting brakes done. Popped ann off to her work and went round to see Dougie at Gilmerton for a roll and cuppa - he was a bit knackered after last nights doo at 151. he left at 1 a.m when the party was just starting. Flavour of the morning was a burnt tattie scone and his genny had packed in.

Out to Enterprise Gateway at Dalkeith where I met one of Graham's pals - totally out of situ so he did not recognise me at fisrt nor I him, despite speaking to him on numerous occasions at The Mercat.

Bloody roadworks, I think it is a conspiracy, they are everywhere. At Milton Bridge, the twice i passed the chaps were taking of tea and buns in their van, at Roslin, two were trying to work out which way the stop and go sighns should be so that cars could pass through the roadworks, whlst one of the others seemed to be having an affair with a broom - we do not need pantomines on the TV, all you do is look at real life. Bilston itself is a total nightmare with queues for miles - and for what ?

Big event of the day is that this is Robbie's birthday - many happy return's - I should have been at his party dinner but due to this incessant coughing, feeling rough and with deli beli - not a good idea.

New in the frame are Hannah, Lorraine and Colin, our friends, who I met at Noble's garage where i was collecting my motor bike wheel which keeps deflating. Lorraine had noticed that her tyre was flat , but not the nail in it. I tried to convince Hannah that a nice X-mas was when you agreed amongst a family not to buy any presents, and that it was nice to sit around a candle - eating a mandarin orange, and discussing how sensible it was not to get involved in the commercialisation of x-mas. I really do not thing that the child was impressed !!!

Phoned Rangers FC to see who I could complain about after the debacle on the 12th (Lyon game) they said that it was nothing to do with them, I had to speak to the Sponsors who in turn should take it up with UEFA who took over the stadium - no regard for the fact that it was their own staff and caterers who were working there.

Kerrin (Little Princess) bit upset today as her Ma is due to go into hospital for some serious surgery tomorrow which will keep her there over x-mas - hope all goes well, chin up.

Shaun, ex Sportsmans, had a wee chat with me tonight on the phone, he is missing the crack as they say, but that's life - good to hear from him as we did get on well while he was with us.

Getting lots of x-mas cards, it is hard to keep up with them - you hear from folk one one then not for ages, etc. but got a lovely one from Issy and Katie who I have not seen for ages and Maggie who was my co leader at the Prince's Trust many moons ago.
At the moment the old saying about the coughing, it's not the coughing that will kill you but the coffin they carry you out in

Have heard that my old friend, compatriot, fellow tutor, etc, is about to take over as chief executive of East Lothian council, not sure whether to congratulate him or commiserate with the community !!!!
on this cheery note i

Dotting about today

Been busy today, took Ann into town for a course, then Andrea tried to kill a man outside the Mercat who was running past the car when she opened the door in front of him, but he should not have been running on the road, he lives on.

Out to SAC, where I heard tales about lots of bicycles being stolen around the University durning the past three/ four months. the Police have caught some of the culprits and have dozens of bikes, but no owners for them - all down at Fettes.

Sausage roll and cuppa with Dougie at his van in Gilmerton then popped in to see Grant at Photogenics - he had an escapee in last week from an old folks home who asked for her passport photo, then disappeared before her carers could find her !! Hopefully not another canoe job, she was still in her goonie under her coat - but that's not too strange for Bonnyrigg folks.

His dog was at the "hairdressers" today, got so excited at the thought of a shampoo, bath and trim he peeded himself (not Grant) .

Buzzed about doing x-mas things, and touch wood, car is running fine, so it is home, feed, get changed and off to 720 Bonnyrigg tonight.

Letter from the Traffic warden section regarding my parking ticket and motor bike on pavement. - After due process they decided I was in the wrong, but have given me a warning in this instance. I should now know better.

Lots of praise

Well, Ann came home and we went and managed to get the Ford started again. So I drove it round to Kwik Fit where it conked out and they started it twice. Mechanic !! metered the battery and alternator and said that I might need both replacing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Managed to get it moving but conked out in Tesco's car park, so I decided to leave it and went to let staff know it was broken down. The lady person I spoke to said that she thought Tesco had a scheme to help customers and called a young manager who phoned up the RAC who said they would attend, whenever, so I walked up home.

A while later the RAC man phoned and picked me up at the house and headed to the car where after a bit of checking found that there was a broken wire from the alternator. That took him about 5 minutes to repair and the car started on a jump and battery was then charging fine. It would appear that the wire had snapped when Frank was replacing the clutch on Saturday.

So, the car is now home, I will know in the morning if all is well, but I have to say that both Tesco and RAC did me well. RAC man was telling me that there were 46 outstanding calls in the Edinburgh area, with 8 mechanics on the road, so some folks would have a long wait.

Have spent the evening writing x-mas cards as Ann had made a start so it looks like they might even arrive before Christmas this year.

Not a morning to sunbathe

Out at the crack of dawn to find all frozen with temp at -8C. Just a wee bit cold, however both cars did start, although the Ford was on a charger. BUT - now it is parked down the street with a dead battery, looks like the cold has taken its toll right enough.

Spend the morning tidying up, doing some bookwork and then down the street - where car conked out leaving me to walk home with a big bag of groceries needed to make the dinner.

Whilst raking the drawers up the stairs I found a newspaper article about me when I was 25 yrs old and did a sponsored slim for The British Heart Foundation, I was overweight then at 14 stone and lost 20 lbs, now I am sitting nearer 16 st - bloody hell, looks like I need to lose 48 lbs to return to my former glory, Mission impossible springs to mind.

Rant and rave

That's me in India, at Bangalore, giving it laldy, everyone had to tell a story or sing a song, etc, so I just stood up and ranted on, just as I am about to!!!.

saturday a.m. went to Imarni's and had a wonderfull massage, hydrotherme again, from my young Polish lady. She and her friends had gone to the Mercat on Thursday for their x-mas dinner and thought it was superb, they were well looked after and the bottle of Piper bubbly went down a treat.

Still had my Delli type belly so it was scambled eggs again - before I headed home, but no rest for the wicked, I had to take Ann off to town to her friend's ( Allison) 50th party.
I then popped back into the Mercat where all was hunky dory, with our lot - Tam, Catherine, Robbie, Caitlin, Jeremy, all down on the sofa's watching the x-factor final. Edwardo, Jamie, Jonathon, and Graham were there but at the bar - Edwardo, a bit under the weather got a lift home with me.

Musselburgh - very quiet when I went down so a wee chat to Simon and Kerrin (she was a bit off colour) then I decided , wrongly to head back to the Mercat - there was a bit bother in the Sportsman's late on, but from the CCTV it probably could not have been avoided.

Picked up Ann and headed home.

Sunday a.m. - up sharp but the Escort would not not start - so bloody cold -4C that the battery had died. After an hours trickle charge car startedbut died again when heater went on, so it was off in the other car to Musselburgh. I was a bit upset having just paid for a new clutch in the Ford yesterday as well but that had nothing to do with the battery.
Anyway, down to Musselburgh to look at the CCTV and copy the barny for the Police, who had responded quickly and were very helpful. Then - due to the severe frost the race meeting was cancelled so I did not have to stay - up the road and managed to get the Ford running so it is now on charge all night.

Intially was not keen on eating but Ann did a steak, with onions and chips fo me, washed down with a nice Mcperson's Big 15 (2006) - and so far stomach has not rebelled. ( New supplier for the Mercat and his steaks are excellent) Both us were crying due to the acid from the onions - took hours to clear.

Watched the x-factor, (bit sad really, anyway good result for Leon, and I am sure that Rydian will work for years in shows, etc) then Come Dancing and ended up being lazy watching the box.

Spoke with Willie my brother in law in Egham, London, who has done nothing to his extension since I was there, so I had better get down and sort it out, he and Sandra are having a wonderful social life with their new neighbours and have also booked next years holiday in May - so, so much for me getting things sorted. their son Stuart, our nephew /Graham's cousin is / has just popped into hospital re a big abcess on his back, and surprisingly the 1st hospital he went to did not have anyone there capable of dealing with it, so he is now in another in london waiting to get it sorted.

Bert (Secretary) was on the phone earlier - I now have four obituaries to report of companions of 500 at the next meeting. And on the same theme, Steven and Susan Michell popped round to say that sadly, Jean from Tenerifffe died yesterday morning , aged 63 of a heart attack, we used to visit her and her husband Jimmy when we were over there.

Whilst all this has been going on - us bursting guts, etc, Sparky Marky, in one of moments of chilling out has managed to book up for a two week cycling tour of CUBA in January ( paying no consideration to the fact that he has obligations for me on the 22nd) so obviously all I can do is hope that he suffers from multiple punctures, mosquito bites, ugly women, and mayby even gets flung in jail - not that I am jealous or taking it badly.

Now 11 p.m., Mercat is quiet now but was busy with the football crowd today, but there are a few in the Sportsmans being looked after by Dannielle and young Michelle, so I am still coughing well but hopefully I will get a good sleep.

Friday night - resting

Cramps, and more cramps last night, all bloody night in fact, just as one leg was easing off the other started and so on it went . So a.m. totally knackered but was up and away.

What a difference in the traffic - Dalkeith in 40 minutes as against my 20 mins in the past.

Musselburgh was fairly steady - which was good, but certainly not as good as it has been , however, one week before x-mas and people are biding their time. It was my old faithfulls who kept me going.

Spoke to a chappie in Plymouth on the phone the other day - he had no idea at all where Edinburgh was !!

Me - MIA.

How time flies, and I did not realise that i have been out of touch for so long.

Anyway, in town during the day last Saturday then had to go and work at Musselburgh at night, as of 10 p.m. - good job though, I managed to shut the pub on time, but the Police raided three others who were planning lock ins for the big fight in the USA.

Sunday , we had the beer club x-mas dinner at the Mercat, so I managed to stay dry for that, only 8 hours of tea and water - hence rumbling belly late on.
Monday - race day at Musselburgh , but it was really quiet by comparison, quick scoot up the road and out again for urgent meeting at 720.

Call from BTP so I had to cancel everything and was up and off at 5 a.m. on Tuesday to Runcorn
no real hold ups so I was home quick and managed a sleep before heading to the RA at Tranent at night, good turn out with 22 from Provincial. John Ackroyd called, he managed to take in a wee charter flight round Mount Everest while he was in Katmandu on business for the BBC

Wed - my planned big day, Met Archie at The Mercat, glass of wine, and then off with Graham and Archie to Glasgow where we met pm with Stuart and Richard from the Old Original, before heading to Ibrox to see Lyon play Rangers. Have had this planned for a few weeks and i must say that the whole experience from the time I arrived till we left Ibrox was a great disappointment - not only because Rangers were seriously thumped, they had no heart or passion for the game. But for me the whole hospitality thing was bad. Anyway, the Heiniken rep, Jeremy, had Graham and myself home by 12 mn.

Today, up sharp, four new tyres on the car - ouch - then off to Bruce's funeral, very well attended and a lovely service taken by Rev. Ray Williamson, one of our own. Off into town - where we had hoped to take in a movie, but there was nothing that took our fancy so we went back up to The Mercat where dinner for me was a lovely bit of popeseye steak, glass of wine, etc. Archie popped in , he seemed to enjoy his day out with us yesterday, but agreed with me that there were serious shortcomings in the Champions Club.

Friday, looking ahead, rescheduled meeting a.m. sharp with accountant, then my turn to look after the Sportmans. Sat, massage organised a.m., and Ann is out at a 50th birthday party at night, so she will miss the big x factor final.

The late Bruce Robertson

Sadly, the stories of Bruce robertson's death were true. I am still not sure if he died on Tuesday night or Wednesday night, anyway it accounts for me not being able to make conatc during the week.
I first met Bruce way back in August 1966 when I joined the old Lothian and Peebles Constabulary and Bruce was the Admin P.C. in the D.H.Q. at Dalkeith. During the years he was promoted to Sgt and then Inspector in the Dept. and I remember one of the bosses calling him "Staff", as in Staff Officer. I am not sure if he was in the RAF at one stage but for some reason I think he was.

He was quite a character in those days, then i sort of lost touch after he retired but met up again through the Masons where he was in the Lodge, Chapter and Eastern Star. He was latterly the Lodge Secretary so i used to sit with him at all the meetings, and if he was a bit off colour he would get me to take notes for his minutes.

He was at the Installation last weekend and was trying to get Mark and me to saty on a bit longer ( at 4.30 a.m.) and on Tuesday night he sent me off with a wee task to doo and I was never able to let him know how I had got on.

He will be sadly missed.

Waited three weeks - wonderful

I eventually succommed to temptation and had a wonderful steak for lunch today.

Its three weeks of so since my last and I was starting to dream about steak pies, cows, anything that went MOO - so there I was in the mercat, with Claire trying to tempt me - so with little persuation I had a beautiful steak sizzler, mushrooms, onion rings, etc and a couple of glasses of good red wine. It was a moment to savour!!.

Thursday - plans all changed

day started off Ok with me dropping Ann off at work and then going off to my job at Corstorphine. Eventually called a halt there, as I need paid and there is nothing further to do till they make a move.

Headed out to Dougie's van for a cup of tea and then picked up a new hands free system for the car, as my bluetooth earpiece was totally unpredictable and I did not want to get caught out.

Due to staffing problems I ended uphaving to work at the Sportsmans instead of getting, as planned away to either Gorebridge or Prestonpans to RA meetings,

Pub was OK, nice and steady, just a wee group in so the evening passed quickly, no fuss, drama, and I was able to shut the doors a bit early, and made it home to bed by 1245 a.m.

Anyway, to day is another day , and I need to find out if the rumor about Bruce robertson is true.

What a day

A long day, off at 4.45 a.m. , back at 4.15 p.m. with 566 miles in between.

My usual rants with white van men, young lady behind me on mobile phone for 20 mins, and a total lunatic in a Nissen Micra, 90 mph, in gale force side winds, taking up two lanes on the motorway.

End of the day, job done, but a bit knackered.

Saw a van run off the road on the M74, going too hard on a left hander, ran off the road into the soft bedding at central reservation so was stuck hard and jumping up and down.

At Runcorn, too late for my breakfast, the girls were in a staff meeting so it was just a cup of tea and off again, but I did get a nice bacon and egg roll at the Little Cheff just north of carlisle in the roadworks.

two lorry drivers, Parcel Force, and surprisingly an Eddie Stobbart man, decided that they did not need to stick to the limits in the controlled roadworks - bit naughty and not good for the image.


Talking of image, our PHS people seem to be totally ignorant, no response now to letters, phone calls and e mails, during past 3 months, just keep sending out bills and refusing to meet with us despite have commited a fraud and us threatening to rip out their kit and leave it in the street.

In need of a sleep but I will see off this bottle of australian Red first.

OH What a day

Sleepless night between sore stomach and a restless wife, so it was up early.

Agreed to drive Graham into town, on what I asked, not a lick of petrol in the car, running on fumes, however the nearst garage is only 200 yds away so we were safe. Then got stuck in terrible traffic so it took me 70 mins to get into the Mercat, but having phoned ahead the lovely Clair was waiting at the kerbside with my roll and a cup of tea.

Down to Scott Cuppola's for my electrical stuff - whizzed through, then , NO BLOODY WALLET, left it in the house being in a rush.

Onwards to Musselburgh where robbie and I dismantled the toilet, fitted the new siphon, replaced toilet, dismantled toilet, replaced siphon, and again replaced cistern - and blow me down it worked.

Back to Edinburgh, this time with money and collected my electrical bits, before hading out to Bonnyrigg, stopping en route at Dougie Sneddon's roadside "cafe" - but he was pleased to see me and roll was good.

Into Bonnyrigg to see Grant at Photogenix, pinched umpteen chocolates - collected some chemical cleaner from him and off up the road.

Bit of a mess in the shower room where Ann had dropped nail polish but eventually it was all cleaned up - at the same time managed to get the lights fixed in the ceiling.

So not a bad days work after all.

Off to 720 with Sparky and Grant, then up early and down south in the morning. But Ann is going back to work tomorrow - after only 29 months getting messed about.

Pays to shop about

Nearly fit as a fiddle, and managing to get some of my work done.

Went mad, pulled cables out of the bathroom ceiling to try and fix lights as transformer is goosed, so if you sit on the pan, hold the wires and switch on your hair curls - Sparky, eat your heart out.
Tried to get a new transformer from Homebase - but it was just a bit too much to expect from their limited stock - so it will be Scott Cuppola & Co when I get the chance. Also priced a siphon and seal kit for a toilet - £17 50p approx, went to the Plumb Centre at Dalkeith where it cost £7.18p.

Stopped off for a cuppa at the "van" in the bus lay by on the A7 at Hunters yard just south of Gilmerton and lo and behold, it was Dougie from 151 in charge, so I had two cups of tea, a bacon roll and a good blether. Dougie was one of the group from 151 who we went with to Shetland last November - had a blast. He is getting set up for Robbie's doo tomorrow and their installation on the 18th.

I hear that Chick rescued a Dove in the street at Musselburgh today, took it to the vet and now concerned that vet will destroy it so he wants to look after it , BUT I am not sure if that is so that he can eat it on x-mas day !! only kidding. So he had a different kind of "flutter" today.

Off out to Newbattle again tonight, Conclave for a change.

Masons day / night out.

Sunday late and I am just now recovering from a "masons day out".

Saturday sparky and I set off at 1145 for Newbattle to go to the K.T's, little raaslising jsu what lay ahead. meeting started at 1230, was adjurned at 2 p.m. then the guest speaker, Robert Cooper, author of the Roslyn Hoax, took the floor and gave a talk about the history of Scottish Freemasonary and talked a lot about Roslyn Chapel dispelling a few myths about its connection with the KT's. Its true what he said that little credence is given to the fact that there was a very large KT encampment at Ballentraddoch ( now known as Temple village) about four of five miles from Roslyn and dating back to the 1100's . As I apparantly dozed off briefly I may have missed something important.
After the talk finished we had to up and dash away without the buffet lunch as we were due over at Bonnyrigg for Alex McBeth's installation at 720 which started at 5 p.m. Meeting was superb with about 180 bodies jammed into the lodge, and I had the pleasure of investing Alex with the 500RA harmony jewel. After the installation about 140 bodies remained for the meal, toasts and social which were all great.
The members present had a collection and donated £500 to Grand lodge as part of the charity appeal.

At one stage I suggested we might leave at 11 p.m., however it was 5 a.m. this morning when I got home having had a marvellous and memorable day out.

Saturday & another wee tale

Feeling a bit more brighter, but with a sleepless night, anyway robbie collected me at 9 a.m. and we went and opened up the Sportsmans, bearing in mind it was a race day.
Fairly steady from the word go, despite the weather and a bit of a turn afterwards. Usual team were in plus some well kent faces from the town who appear just on race days. Nothing out of the ususaul happened, Big George got drunk again and was annoyed when someone said he had farted (it was Robbie that done it), PQ was wrapped in a Saltire X and drank whisky as this is St Andrew's day; Chick was practicing his German with a female ex Military Police person, but got stuck on his days of the week - so much for being locked up in a German jail !!

Anyway, Robbie was asking about the blue Police Boxes up the town which are now run as coffee shops, as he did not realise that they had been used as bases for the City beat policemen. In the "olden " days that was where they started and finished their shift, by phoning in, used it as poit to meet the public, have meal breaks, use the sink as a "urinal", and if they were luck they had a small heater for the winter. One of my ex bosses, before he came out to the county worked a beat near to the brewery which used to be at the foot of the High Street near Hollyrood. he and his made used to climb over the wall into the brewery and fill up a bucket of beer from one of the vats and take it back to their box and drink it on the nightshift. Anyway, one night they were disturbed by the brewery security and ran off leaing their bucket under the tap which had not turned off - in the morning the next shift got a report of thieves in the brewery who had caused the brewery to lose a couple of hundred gallons of beer!! No culprits were ever traced.

True Police stories

On a roll, thats 3 for the night, so although I am not 100% yet i am feeling a bit brighter.

Many years ago I worked with a fellow cop who had a wonderful way with words. in the days before Police had hand held PDA's, etc, we had to sit down and write or type our own work and we had bosses who were sticklers with grammer, spelling, etc.

We went to a local hotel one night to repond to an ambulance call and found that one of the guests had died during a family party.
My collegue wrote the sudden death report and said "quote" " up untill the moment of his death the now deceased was the life and soul of the party"

Same officer attended another sudden death when a one armed man was found dead, huddled in the doorway of a local garage on a very cold night. He wrote " the now deceased was easily identified as he had lost a limb during a confrontation between nations " " it was so cold it took your breath away".

Same officer, on a warm summer day was out in a police car with a young female officer - both in shirt sleeve officer. The young lady was particularly well endowed, breast wise, and while parked he kept staring at her and eventually said " are these real" and grabbed her breasts !!! She returned to the Office in hysterics, but refused to make a complaint about him, how times have changed, his feet would never have touched the ground if that happened now.

Drunken clients / or just the staff

The Home office have just published guidelines to the Police so that they can tell who is drunk in a pub and should not be served. I was reading through the list and I am sure it might fit me during one of my male menopausel moments. Certainly fits some of our lot even when sober.

Noticeable change in behaviour ( during the football and racing) ;
Bad tempered, aggressive; ( normal) ;
Offensive language; (normal);
Becoming loud, boisterous or disorderly; ( Cod on a good day);
Becoming physically violent; ( Old willie - normal);
Becoming incoherent; (normal);
Slurring, or making mistakes in speech; and ;
becoming argumentative. (routine);
A lack of judgment (me at times);
Being careless with money; (all the staff);;
Annoying other persons, employees etc; (me);
Exhibiting inappropriate sexual behaviour; (most men);
Drinking quickly or competitively (‘down in one’) ( thirsty george);
Clumsiness & loss of co ordination ( me);
Swaying; (all the staff to the music);
Staggering; (me);
Difficulty with walking; (wee George - with his sticks);
Falling down; (wee George plus others);
Bumping into furniture; (paul and Chick with the hoover);
Spilling drinks; (most of the staff and customers);
Difficulty in picking up change; and (few);
Fumbling for cigarettes, or other items ( no smoking inside);
Decreased alertness ( me during karaoke);
Drowsiness, dozing or sleeping; (PQ);
Rambling conversation; (Chick);
Loss of train of thought; (Chick);
Difficulty in paying attention; (Me);
Not understanding what is said; ( Definately me);
Glassy eyes and lack of focus. ( me during karaoke);
Appearance - Unkempt/ Dishevelled ( bit like Dreever was);
Source: Home Office guidelines

Scambusters

Weeks ago I wrote that I had "apparantly" won a prize in a big draw, but knowing nothing about this I wrote , rather than spend £1.50 p per minute asking for details, suggested it was a scam but in return I received a piece of paper saying I had won a camera but had to sent £6.50p

Did nothing, then received another three letters from a similar company - all based in Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, so today contacted Trading Standards who asked me to send all the paperwork to a national Scambuster team based in Solihul, Birmingham.

Shred and ignore any of these offers or do what I have done.

No joke " old age" !!

Up, not quite so ealry, but have been awake for four hours or so, obviously still jetlagged.

System still in an an uproar and causing discomfort - BUT - by taking things seady yesterday we were out and about for most of the day.

Dentist was kind, no holes, but be did coat a tooth with some protective laquer, but during the day I felt it peeling off so that was a waste of time and effort.

Made it to Livingston where McArthur Glen was very busy - or it seemed that way from the car parks, did not get what I went for, then into town.

At "Imarni", I had a wonderful hydrotherm massage, where I ended up almost ready to sleep but as I had lots of knotted muscles the girl took great delight in going in deep to try and loosen them - bit sore on the bum !!, (next session is already booked). Normally I would have followed this by steak and wine at The Mercat, but all my stomach could cope with was more scrambled egg.

Anyway, home, and quick turn about to go to a Committee meeting at 720 Dalhousie, and after I sat doing paper work while Alex McBeth and his team did a rehearsal for next weeks meeting. Alex's installation on Saturday is a sell out so it should be a good evening.

Photos from India are good, but Grant has the CD's so once they are back I can add pics.

Have been neglecting my duties at The Sportsmans Bar, but will need to be back there, come hell or high water on Friday as there is a race meeting at Musselburgh

What a difference a day makes.

Bloody hell, yesterday I eventually thought I was dying, wracked with pains from every bit of my body, chest, stomach, etc, and never off the "loo". Took me all the time to stagger down stairs and later on when i had to go to town I nded up sleeping in the car for an hour or so.
Thought I woould not get out to the RA last night, my first night in the Chair, however I felt just well enough to go.

Spoke to the Doctor before I left and she said there was a hellish 24 hour bug on the go and lots of folk around here were suffering badly.

Got to Bonnyrigg where I literally just poured with sweat all through the evening, steaming up my specs, several claimed it was fear, but it was certainly not. Good meeting, team worked very well and I was able to give a wee resume of the trip to India.
Grant (of Photogenix fame) was there and he had worked like a wee trojan to get all my photos ready, so the guys went through them after the meeting, that worked a treat./
Means I can now start to dress up the blogs again with this batch, and probably edit back the way a few entries.
Nice wee buffet for the boys prepared by Claire from the Mercat, assisted by Ann ( Claire made brilliant haggis balls).

OK , must go - Dentist wants a look at my shiny teeth this morning - fingers crossed no work needs done, dont want to pass out in the chair again!!

What's in an E mail?

Up very early again this morning and feeling really terrible. In ths first instance I am obviously still five hours ahead of time here, which will be OK for Thursday morning when I am up early and away down south. BUT , whole body in pain, somach, chest , head, ears, back - the lot . I suspect that it was the Indian meal I had LAST NIGHT at home which has given me a mild (or otherwise) dose of food poisoning. I manage to survive the week with little or no discomfort and was ill with food on plane and at home.

Sent a couple of E mails over to India yesterday, and found one on the box this morning - which I refuse to open. I do not recognise the name and it looks like one of those gobbledygook addresses which the Viagra spammers blitz the system with. So if there is someone out there with a very strange name, trying to get me, sorry - go find another E mail address.

Looks like it is back to bed again to try and recover.

Monday a.m. - Scotland

Well, home in one piece afer an 18 hour trip back. But having said that only 9 hours were in flying and the rest sitting about and transferring.

We were collected at the hotel early, about 9 a.m., but for some reason the roads out the Citywere very quiet and we made it to the airport quick time, walked in and there was no one waiting at either the check in or immigration where just breezed through. Then had to sit for three hours.
Plane which was full to the gunnells left on time and made up time getting abck to London. The flight was good, but the in flight meal was appalling so I sufferred from a bad stomach en route.

Fun began at London, where having rushed from T4 to T1 found it jam packed with bodies who had been delayed for up to three hours due to air traffic centre computer problems. BUT we managed to get onto the plane on time, when the inevitable happened and the gantry broke down which would not release from the plane.
Home now, next to no washing due to it all being done while away.

Now going to try and correct the terrible grammer and spelling mistakes from the previous notes, written under the influence !!

India - saturday night Sunday a.m.

Now 1 a.m. Sunday, which is 9 p.m. at home.

Odd day today, once I sobered up I hit the trail with Andy McKean, and we went to the shops, at one point I ended up un an office on their computer whichwas better than the Hotels.

Came back, had tea, and sat for ages waiting for Mr Richard Head @ Dick to get off the one computer in the hotel, but as he was no doubt talking to his boyfriend who was sitting on a wi fi lap top opposite him I eventually left and went to a wee Cyber cafe where I got my flights and ticketc confirmed in minutes.

Took a walk and ended up in a hairdressers, ( photo later) got a hir cut, shave, head, face and then back and shoulder massage - over an hour , for about three pound, boys were great, spoke very little English but end result was good.

Asked Police where there was a bar, they sent me to a hotel, but I went to a "permit house", a bit like the Mercat ( NOT NOT NOT) where I had a pint bottle of Kingfisher Lager plus a two egg omelette with two fresh warm rolls for about one pound twenty pence - and had a Tv to watch India being hammered by Pakistan.

Picked up at 6 p.m all in our full kit, kilts, etc for another RA meeting attended by about 25 members and guests (considering who the guest of honour was !!) anyway, the meeting was good and the meal was excellent.

Back at Hotel, caused a bit of a stir as I would not move from lounge while cleaners were in, was not a problem to me to have hoovers and carpet cleaners running , but they wanted me to go to my room - but as Mr R. Head (@ Dick) was back on the PC I would not move and "instructed - under threat" the Managers to get the carpet cleaners back.

Anyway, one of the young ladies from the USA now wants on the box so I am heading off to take a bit more Jura.

Not sure if I will be back on before home- so Grant ahd better get his form ready for Tuesday, etc.

Cheers

India - Saturday

Well, what can I say - just trying to get over a big hangover after last night.

We were all dressed up in kilts, etc at 3.30 p.m. picked up and driven to the Lodge, where we had to wit till 6.45 before we went in, the Installation took till 9 p.m. during which we three from Midlothian all took part with the Supreme officers.
Atendance was quite poor, although there were senior officers there who had travelled for 12 hours by train to get there.

Meal was different!! started with a plate of nibbles, nuts, crisps and bombay mix, then airline type dishes, in foil, but it was tasty, and washed down with whisky, and more whisky, and more

At about 10.45 everyone just upped and left quickly so we got a lift back to the hotel and took beers and real whisky, so at 3.30 a.m. life was "just a bowl of cherries", as Forrest Gump would say.

Have been out this morning for a walk and to take in the local ambience, but you cannot go to far for fear of falling into holes in the road and pavements, etc,

Now off, the being colected at 6 p.m for another meeting and drinks tonight, which hopefully will not be too late as we leave Sunday lunchtime -

India - Friday

Made it here after flight up from Bangalore.
Hotel said they had no rooms for us as the Manger had apparantly miss read our boking letter. This caused a bit of a fuss !! as he was a serious "jobsworth" who came very close to getting a smacking. However he gave us all double rooms at single rates, so my room is about 40 feet long - just a bit OTT.
Have heard that he wants to move us later on - but only if he can find us.

We were then collected and taken to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, which sounds a bit posh, in reality, pleasant as it was it was a bit dated and folks there seem to revel in living in the past - however, putting it in context with the place it is certainly a haven to retreat from the constant hurly burly. Napkins were distributed only after a couple of the company had spilt food down their shirts ! and the cutlery lay out was incorrect ! ( just a casual observation)

The roads are a nightmare, just dug up all over, left lying, and makes Edinburgh look brilliant. Cars double and treble park, stop anywhere, etc.

The electric train runs with bodies in and on it, last week four youths were killed when sitting on the roof and as the train ran from one power source to another they were blown up in the air and "fried".

Late last night, or 1 a.m. I was outside the hotel, and within a radius of about 30 yards from the front gate there were at least 20 people sleeping on the pavements. Across the road was a family of four with a new baby, they eat, cook and sleep under the tree. The luckier ones round the corner beside the railway line have pieces of tarpaulin to make their houses. Every so often the Police come along and pull down their huts , but they just pick up the bits and build them somewhere else.
At the Yacht Club, the off duty staff were sleeping in the car park at the back yard, while round the corner the biggest Hotel was going like a funfare with the rich and pretentious just totally ignoring what was going on. BUT if you did take it to heart you could not get by !!1

Another long day ahead of us, out in the town, all day then collected at 4.30 p.m. for the "big" meeting and another dinner. Seems that we will all be taking an active part in the installation.

Breakfast time now.

Day 3 India

Now morning of day 4, but I did write a blog last nigth which dissapeared when the time expired.

Currently experiencing even more tooting in my ears due to the bloddy cars outside.

Anyway, Wednesday we spent 14 hours on the road in a coach , so called luxury ( NOT) but I suppose it was by local standards, at one stage the driver stopped, got out a long stick and dipped the petrol tank then went and bought 5 ltrs of fuel for three pound so that we could carry on.

We went to a city north of Bangalore, called Mysore (bum - after the trip), about 80 to 90 miles , which took about 4 hours each way and that was by dual carriage way. However, , every so often o the dual carriageway they place barriers to form chichanes to slow you down, also speed bumps, so one minute you are belting along, next, the emengency brakes come on and you weave or bump past these obstructions.

Rules of the road ,
1. drive flat out, foot to the board,
2. keep hand on horn to let people know you want to pass, are passing, or just to annoy folks,
3. do not give a shit about anyone else
4. brake at last minute only and terrify everyone else.

If on a motorbike, carry at least one passenger, and rear one must be using a phone.

At one point we were passing a bike, an ox cart, and there was a car coming at us on the wrong side of the road with headlights on !! Quite a few near misses, and in one of the towns on the way, someone had lit a fire in the middle of the main junction and it caused chaos, just a local demonstration by the disgruntled natives.

Anyway we went to four palaces at Mysore, then for lunch in one of the colonial clubs, bit snobby, stopped twice at a super roadside cafe, which did lovely latte for 40 p a cup.

Everyone has been great, so last night we went back to the lodge for more drinks and a meal, everyone sat around and told jokes !! some badly, then we had a meal, so it was very late when we got home.
Got the first sts of photos put onto CD.

Ready now to go to airport and back to Bombay for next part of adventure.

Day 2 India

Out last night at the Gymkhana club in Bombay but had to run the gauntlet of the the beggers sleeping on the pavement outside the hospital next to the hotel.
Here, folks just die during the night and they pick up the bodies in the morning. Last week a young student was knocked over by a guy on a scooter and as she lay on the ground a bus just ran over her head and killed her.
Latest thing in Bombay is groups out killing the stray dogs, they have web site and suggest pouring petrol on them and "setting fire to their bums" or shooting them "in the testicles with an air gun" which is apparantly a bit painful and fatal. The local papers have a very colourful ay of writing English.

Anyway, with a bit of a delay at Bombay, ( coffee in the airport was lovely and only cost 50 p) we had a great flight to Banglaore. Photo of two nice stewardesses for later use.

Picked up and taken to the "elite Banglaore club", very colonial, where we met the locals for lunch and drinks ( good quality Seagrams 100 Pipers and Smirnoff) then a wee tour before going to the guest house when we had 90 minutes to get ready for this evenings formal doo at the Royal Arch.

Again a super night when they let me do a wee speech !!! and I thought we were about to go home when they served dinner - that was because they had been serving all sorts of Indian starters and drinks for 2 hours.

Anyway, everyone was getting a bit pie eyed, so we called a halt and headed back at 1140 p.m. as we have to be up again at 6.45 to head up country for a full day tour - with lunch of course, before we come back for another dinner and drinks. Staying off the Indian whisky and rum which would send rocket into space.

Thats my day so far.

Sunshine and chaos

Long flight from London with a 70 minute delay sitting on the plane before take off. Flight was a bit turbulant and wee girl in front of me kept throwing up . However we made it in one piece, but only just with a good heavy landing. We were met by a driver at the airport, which was very fast to get through immigration and colect outr baggage but chaos outside. The run from the airport to hotel took over an hour and was like the whacky races with put puts, thousands of black taxis, and four on motorbikes, etc, all trying to get four cars wide into thre lanes.

Got to the hotel at 9.30 a.m. UK time so that was a long days travelling.
Hotel said they had no rooms for us but it turned out they had writen down Andrew William Stuart and the staff thought it was one person rather than three. Hotel looks a bit old fashioned but clean and tidy - everyone and their aunty wants a tip.
At the airport we were surronded by porters and had no local cash, so gave them about four pound which is bloody fortune to them.

We have met one of our hosts so tonight we meet at 5.30 for a wee wander and then are being picked up to go to a cocktail party at the Wodehouse Gymkhana, to meet the Office bearers of the Grand Chapter, dress casual.
Leaving at 7.15 a.m. on Tuesday to fly south again to Bangalhore where we have a big formal doo on Tuesday night.


Right , making a few spelling mistakes so need a break - till next time.
.

The adventure begins

Started off with a bad night, little sleep, and was wandering about.

Anyway, aided by the kangaroo kid, his henchman RGB Jnr, and the mud wrestling Andrea we made it to the airport at Edinburgh.

At the check in i was told that my travelling companions Bill and Andy had arrived.

Anyway, took a wrong turn, as there was no point in looking for Ray (Grandad) Lyden, as he was in Austria watching some English football team. BUT I met Shuggie and Pippa who had been up for the Scotland game, soas their plane to Nottingham was delayed I sat and caught up with all their news.
?? they wanted to knowif The SODS / MODS were having a x-mas doo.

Plane was a few minutes late which meant we had a hold over north london for 10 mins but got down with no stotting along the runway.

By the time we got off Bill was gasping for a fag, so he and Andy exited the terminal and made it from T1 to T4 the long slow way round, while I wandered, carefree, unexcited and not even swearing through the building, on the bus and into T4 .

There I found a nice gentleman who was letting folks sample malt whiskey so when the other two arrived, having to go back through secuirty - Bill being searched from head to toe as his hearing aid nearly destroyed the x-ray.,

Now in the Priority Pass lounge, having a picnic of cheese, whisky, etc, with another while to wait.

Watch this space.

Bitter sweet

Well, sadly swe lost, and it had to be in the last minute of the game when it was going either way.
The pub was bouncing up till that point - when it could have gone either way , som it is now back to the drawing board.

Girls were back from Benidorm, tired, had not quite had trhe "ball" they had hoped for, but never the less, mad it home in one piece.

early in the day Robbie and self were kind of hammered, what a man, he is worth his weight in gold - especially when i am still not 100%.

good news was that John ackroyd called from London, now with the BBC and heading off to the middle east tomorrow for two weeks, doing well in his post and quite happy with life.

had a letter from the police regarding my motor cycle being parked on the pavement, enquiry officer has been very good and now taken matter to the council for their decision and matter is still pending.

BUT IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO PHOTOGRAPH A MOTOR BIKE PARKED ON A PAVEMENT ANYWHERE IN THE LOTHIAN AREA LET ME GET A COPY AS I AM BUILDING UP A FILE. ESPECIALLY WHERE THEY ARE NOT CAUSING ANY KIND OF OBSTRUCTION.

The night before

One night to go before the big game, Scotland / Italy, and everyone is getting a bit excited. On top of that its Children in Need night on the Tv and money is rolling in. the Sportsmans crowd, generous as ever have done their bit and sent in a good few pound. No matter what i will be working there on Saturday, even if just till tea time.
Tam Finlay managed to get a ticket so he will be at the game - good one.

Case now nearly packed for India, so not so much of a rush on Sunday morning.

Tracked down missing friend, John Ackroyd, now working with the BBC in London and all over the world, anyway message left for him to contact us.

I hear that Stuart Walker, late of Mercat kitchens had left the country and thought to be in Sheffield.

Getting seriously hacked off

Has been a sort of bad couple of weeks, what with double vision, things going wrong, and just not getting on with things before I head off on Sunday.

There does seem to be some kind of positive reaction taking place now and eyesight is slowly correcting, but not fast enough for me to be able to drive normally at night, and as the day progresses I get tired and eyes go wonky.

Anyway, have not even started looking out things for the case yet, but have just been looking at flight times for the return and we have only 70 mins to get from T4 to T1, and BA say it takes a minimum of 75 minutes. Another problem to solve - unless we get in early.

Robbie and Caitlin are doing us proud at the moment - he has been keeping things together at the Sportmans while I have been "in absentia", and Caitlin is passing her time at the Mercat, while yet another problem with their visas is being sorted out. Been a bit of a bind down at Musselburgh with the three "divas" away causing havoc in Benidorm, but word coming back is that they are enjoying themselves.

Graham gets a bit older on Saturday, but with the Scotland game on at 5 p.m. it will be all hands on deck with little likleyhood of him getting much free time.
Anyway, sparky Marky is arriving for his dinner tonight as a thank you for his recent driving duties, so i will be able to get some lessons in chilling out .

Using desktop at the moment, for some reason I keep getting "interupted service" on the lap top, which is all fine when you are not in a hurry to do things.

OK. - not heard from Mr Furneval for some time - please note.

The older the fiddle

Between us, 120 years of experience (in tea drinking) but we still managed to get the job done !! Two days with a wee bit effort and just by pacing ourselves.

I have never drank so much tea for ages.

Snow, yes - it is.

Made it home safely last night, good flight with BMI which came in on time and as Graham was waiting we were home at the toot

We missed the snow which fell early evening but then turned to rain, but not before some poor soul shot off the A702 and ended up on his roof. William called to say that the hard frost experienced in London around the same time also turned to rain, and while we have had a nice day it was wet down south.

Managed to get into town to do some work, but had to stop early and go to Livingston with Ann to buy stuff for Graham. The lads I am working with are very good but I have to keep waving a big stick at them to get things done.

Have sourced a new baker for the Mercat so we all had a taste of some lovely fresh breads which are going on the menu.

The good news for once is that the Chinese whispers in Musselburgh were all wrong, the so called fatal accident involving a child and fire engine, turned out to be a Glaswegian visitor to Musselburgh - over for the races , now in hospital recovering, who walked out in front of a fire engine on an emergency call. It obviously must have been bad initially as the Police did carry out a full fatal accident scenario.

Still not back to normal yet so having a night in. Anyway I have no driver either as Sparky has disappeared !! on his days off.

brickies labourer

Well, another lovely day here in London. So with William taking a day off we got stuck in to start on another of the walls to his extension, and at the end of play had managed to get 600 bricks laid, very satisfying to see the wall going up and pointed neatly, but as he has plenty of work to do it will be some time before he gets back to do a bit more.
Saw the parrots this morning, there are quite a number here and they fly in each morning and back again during the day - bit noisy though.
House is near to Heathrow flight path so we had plenty of planes to watch during the day as they took off and headed to all corners of the globe.
Anyway, home on the 20.50 BMI flight and will doubtless sleep well tonight.

Happy smile club

Missing out days here there and everywhere, however, I have not been 100% for the past ten days or so. Combination of old age!!! so they say and doing too much, however given a fair wind ( not the strong wind blowing this morning) I will hopefully be back to sorts in a week or so.
Have been depending on Sparky Marky to drive me to meetings at night, so it is a disappointment for him to have to cancel his planned rub down ( by a young lady) on Thursday night, to take me to Dalkeith. I missed out on Monday night at Newtongrange due to having no pilot.

We were at Bonnyrigg, 720, last night where we had a superb lecture by Davy McMillan on the public perception of Freemasons, it was fascinating and well worth listening to.

Heading for the Hilton Hotel tonight to the Licensed trade ball, although in my current state I could well do with staying at home and resting, but needs must.
Anyway, off to see my wonderfull dentist lady this morning - so I will have nice shiny teeth tonight - just like the wolf in Little red riding hood.

Welcome USA readers

Evening /or early morning, I am presently talking to Greg Karabin in Downington, USA, father of Kevin, who is enjoying himself here in Edinburgh , and now will be told to behave.

Pubs were busy with lots of rugby people and the games were good but the big one is Sunday against NZ. Having said that we had a couple of real "prats"from NZ in the pub who were rude and not what we expected from our visitors.

Had a good night out with Joe and Christine who made us really welcome, nice meal, and even had big Ian, Black Diamond Radio give us a request, but the music was modern dance, which was a bit too much for us , so we calmed down with val Doonigan and Michael Buble.

Sportsman was reasonably busy, Princess Kerrin, Elaine and Simon, did well, assisted by Stuart who helped out fpor a couple of hours. Looks like Shaun has decided to pack in, he will be missed.

Bed time

The Karabin Boy ( Kevin)

last night, having been at a masonic meeting in Gorebridge, I deciced to head for The Mercat, where it was busy, and actually stopped off in town to do one of my own jobs en route.
Mercat was very busy, so I ended up in the sink in the kitchen helping Claire and Stuart, who had been rushed off their feet.

Anyway, Graham says I should meet this young American, and low and behold it was a 6'6" tall, 21 year old kevin Karabin, from Downington, PA. Kevin is the son of Greg and Bonny Karabin who Graham stayed with some years ago when working in the USA and playing rugby, and both Ann and I have stayed with Greg and Bonny.
I had completely forgotton that he and his friend were coming over for the New Zealand match on Sunday, anyway they were very havppy, Grham had organised a bed for them , and they left with Stuart, the chef, to go to the Sportsman's bar, where I later heard them singing on the karaoke when I phoned Robbie ( Koala hugger) at 12 mn to see how things were.

We will meet up with the boys again over the weekend as they will be eating and drinking at The mercat and I suspect singing in the Sportsman's again on Sunday when the karaoke final is on.

Met Andy Brash last night, he had phoned Bob Malcolm at Forth 2 to complain that he had not been reading my daily E mails, however, as I had only sent one this week, he had nothing to read.

Anyway, off to Donna Murray's funeral this morning, I hope all goes well for family.

Good service

Morning,
Our Graham tries very hard in the The Mercat to provide a good service both from the kitchen and on the floor to the customers, and all manage to get it right most of the time.

It is nice to get out and about and find similar standards elsewhere, so having seen the total opposite with the sneaky traffic wardens in Edinburgh I would like to praise a couple of companies I have come across.

Yesteray was a good example, I went to Scott Cuppola, Electrical Wholesalers in Bonnington, place was busy as usual, but the five guys on the service counter are excellent, they work as a team, have a great product knowledge and are really helpfull with no messing about. there is a coffee machine handy so if you do have to stand you have things to look at also.

Then went to Jewson Timber at Slateford Road, beside Matalan (my favourite clothes shop - so Ann says). I only wanted a wee bit wood, however I paid all of £3 for a 7 ft length ( 2.4 m), again the staff were excellent, helpfull and although the bloke who helped me was just new in the warehouse he was friendly, sociable, and I was able to cut it to length there and then.

Going back a few weeks to when I had my bike serviced at Border Bikes, Duns, by Andy Mimms, here is a classic of a small firm who would never had survived but for the fact their service is superb, friendly, they know your machines, etc. I would not have followed them from Edinburgh, to Gifford, Berwick upon Tweed and now Duns if they had not been good.

Relatives

I was rummaging about this morning and found an old wedding certificate of my Granfather William Deuchars Blaikie / Grandmother Eva Marshall Barclay who were married in 1914.

Discovered that he lived at 2 Perth Street ( off Hernerson Row) and she was from 58 Colinton Road.

Had a look at both places, Colinton Road was rebuilt in the mid 40's and I suspect that Perth Street was likewise, but I will need to check.

Interestingly, there is a paving slab outside the pawn shop, second hand shop, on the corner of Queens Street, Hanover Street !! with the name BLAIKIE engraved into it. This shop is only about 400 yards from Perth Street, and as my Gt grandfather was a merchant there might be a connection.

And , she died in 1935, aged 44, living at that time at 9 Eskside South, Musselburgh, which I think has also been built over.

This will give me something to check out.

Sneaky wardens

Was in town this morning and in Canonmills, saw a warden hiding round a corner writing out a ticket for a car sitting on double yellows outside a hairdressoer. As the car window was wide open I would think that lady was probably making an appointment, but rather than make himself visible and give her a chance to move he just booked her.

They were sprinting up and down George Street, and one was booking a motorbike in Queen's Street, where he was obvioulsy delivering something to a big office. RATS

Pay the penalty

Home again after a 566 mile round trip to Runcorn, and feeling more than a bit tired.

Left at 5 a.m. , and as usual the white van men did not let me down, tearing past at breakneck speed throughout the journey. Met Bob D. at Glasgow, picked up my paperwork and headed south which was a good run as road was fairly quiet.

As I arrived on site at Runcorn I was talking to Ann on the hands free, and having been hunted around the site by the yellow coated "jobsworth" the last time I headed straight for the visitors car park, BUT , my way was blocked by Mr Jobsworth and when I tried to get round him he stopped me. Turned out that the car park was needed for "other" visitors, but he let me stop nearer the offices. I had forgotton that Ann was still on the hands free and was giving it laldy when she chipped in and gave me a row for all the swearing within the car, and muttering as i made it along the pavement.

Met Jill at reception who made me count to 10 and calmed me down before i met the folks inside. Nice quick meeting this morning, Liam and lorraine were in good sorts as were the other girls. Went to the Canteen for my roll and mocha where Chris, showed me her fancy new glasses which she had been made to buy after her last eye sight test ( Two pairs for £99 - a bargain).

Headed home and the fun started, first eejit, a guy in a brand new Ford Transit car transporter, possibly lost, nearly hit me on three occasions as he made it from the M62 to the M6, he was totally oblivious of anyone else around him ( nice set of dark shades). Then further north, eejit No 2 in black VW golf, as he answered his mobile swung out into my lane and braked at the same time, making me brake and skid as I had nowhere to go. Obviously ranting again about the use of mobiles without hands free kits. Further north, a black Transit, "The meatloaf show.com", he passed me, at speed chatting away on his phone, then just kept getting slower and slower.

In the meantime, it would appear that I was getting faster and faster, and a bit tired, when at Abington, as I crested the hill, there it was , a bloody camera van on the bridge ahead, nowhere to go, nothing I could do and I am sure I was travelling somewhere near the speed of sound !!! Anyway, it was my foot on the pedal, and if I was speeding that's my bad luck. The most annoying thing was that after slowed down a bit, there were loads of motors passing me. To make matters worse, as I came off the M73 onto the M8 going back into Glasgow I found a Police van on my tail, so slowed to let him past, and then followed for the next four miles, through, 70's, 60's and then the 50 limit, and what was he doing - about 75 with no blue lights, etc. There aint no justice in this world.
It was the same from Glasgow to Edinburgh, I felt that I was more of a hazard keeping to the speed limit rather than keeping up with the traffic in the outside lane.

Anyway, popped in to see my friend Danny and Katriona, so they calmed me down with tea and chocolate (white) biscuits, and we had a wee blether to catch up with the gossip.

Robbie ( koala hugger) has been on wanting to know if Mark has remembered the safe place where he put his shades!!

Now about to get ready to go back out again, another meeting tonight, but at least it is in Penicuik.

In the middle of the night

Above . being the name of a song, BUT, I am not singing as I prepare to head out into a dark, cold wet, night / morning , to go to Glasgow and then Runcorn.

Someone phoned the house at 2.20 a.m., two rings, enough to waken me , then hung up, so I have been restless since.

I can feel the effects of yesterday's massage, just slightly tender, however, another 24 hours and I will be like a new man.

Good result for Rangers / Scotland last night at the football, just listened to it on the radio.

Sandra phoned from London to say that William was pleased with his phot the other day, in Hong Kong with Gerard heullier.

Off into the cold now.

Feet up now - long day ahead

Costco - then Bookers, and into The Mercat with our purchases.

We had a 12 md appointment in Edinburgh but is was cancelled, so we just took it easy at The Mercat, where Claire made me the most wonderful sirloin steak, served on a sizzler with onion rings, tomatoes, mushrooms, fries and a mustard sause - accompanied by a nice glass of red wine.

We then went over the road to Imarni's beauty salon, Torphichen Street, where I had a neck and back massage. It was really good, Ann, the therapist used hot stones to get deep into the muscle. She was in her element when she found all the knots in my neck and shoulders and spend nearly an hour working them out. She said that they are caused by stress, bad posture and sitting in the car for too long, its just a pity that I have an eleven hour drive tomorrow which will undo all her good work. However, at the moment I am feeling just brilliant. I will just have to get booked up for another session in the next couple of weeks.
I was telling her about the various massages I had whilst in China, a rather raunchy Thai massage in The Holiday Inn, Wuhtan, where I had a young lady working my spine with knees and elbows, a session of "cupping" which is a very Chinese style massage using little glass globes, they are placed on your body with a flame inside, then as the air is used up a vacume is formed and the skin and underlying muscle is drawn into the globe which apparently draws the blood up to the surface ( I think) . We passed a back street "clinic" in Chin Chong (population 19 million) and saw a man on a table covered in these little globes, did not look too pleasant, however I am led to believe that lots of top movie stars in the USA get this treatment.

Anyway, now back home with feet up, resting before I head south at 5 a.m., just getting a bit too old for all this running about !!!

Police Statistics

Just wanted to comment on a TV programme which was on STV on Monday night relating to the use of statistics by the Police.
An ex met PC has been doing an expose of how the numbers game is seriously effecting policing.

This is not a new problem, when I joined the Police in 1966 it was a problem also. My boss used to complain if I put in a crime report for something which we might not be able to solve.
There was one Sunday morning, very early, a milkman said that there was a car in Mayburn, Loanhead, with the door open. When I went to check it out I ended up with 15 cars in the area all broken into , and several hours later I was sitting in the office writing out all these Crime Report Forms ( No 17) when the Sergeant arrived. He went ballistic, ranting and raving, etc, and told me that I could just stay on and phone them all down to the DHQ which took ages.

HOWEVER, totally different ball game about a week later when the two culprits were caught, The Sergeant sat and did all the cancellations ( 17 A) and put his name on the bottom as the reporting officer.

In the early 80's when I was in Crime Intelligence I used to go though the Annual reports with a fine tooth comb and work out the "real" solvency rates, and more recently I did the same with the 2005/2006 Report and the problem still persists.

In the 60's / 70's there were always either three or four officers on duty in Penicuik on all shifts, nowadys you are lucky to have two on at a time and they sometimes have to cover more than one Station.

Current problem here is that the former Divisional Commander for Mid and East Lothian overspent his budget by so much that they cannot afford to pay ovetime to cover shifts. He managed to get himself a plumb job in London but has been recalled at the insistence of his peers who have been suffering as a result of his incompetence.

Frustrating day

Well, Tuesday Turned out to be fairly quiet, but one of thosedays that someone wanted to talk to you all the time so it was impossible to get much done.
Couple of Mondays patrons arrived, one quite cheery having been to the bookies to collect his winnings, albeit it was only about £15., The other for a hair of the dog, and to admit that he had lost about £400 on Monday. He was saying that he does not have much luck at the horse, but does a lot of punting on golf tournaments where he does very well.

Engineer arrived so the Sportsman Bar is the proud owner of a flashy double chilled tap for Tennents Lager and Stellar Artoir, but you cannot please everyone - the beer is so cold that it pours without a head some times so you have to liven it up off the normal tap.

The lovely Michelle took over prompt so I had a quick run up the road, losing the plot in the traffic queues and jams in Dalkeith, I need to drive with the windows closed to stop people hearing me cursing.

Sparky Marky picked me up in his "heaterless" Ford to go to Bonnyrigg to a meeting at 720, Lodge Dalhousie. I am the ass treasurer, but as the Treasurer, Walter Dick, had forgotton to bring the books he was holding for me I had a quiet night. I won 1st prize in the raffle, nice bottle of Grouse Whisky which will add to my collection

Cletic lost 2. 0 at the football but Scotland won at Murrayfield against Romania. Might be different on Sunday 23rd against New Zealand. I believe that our Graham was at the match and is still snoring off the effects of celebrating.

Off today, so going to town with Ann, chance to rest before heading south again tomorrow.

1st Frost

Morning, very chilly outside and we have the first real frost of this coming winter. Will have to defrost the windscreen.

Thought Bob Malcolm was off to Las Vegas, but no, he is bright as a button on the radio.

Pub quietened down last night so the little princess (Kerrin) looked after the quiz folks and put place to bed, whilst Robbie, Coala Hugger, and I am guessing here headed to the Mercat where he led Graham astray. They are both off to see Scotland at Murrayfield tonight playing Romania - better do well. And Celtic are away o the Ukraine.

Anyway short and sweet - need to head off soon.

Donna Murray

Sadly, I have to say that our friend Donna Murray died on Friday , aged 43 years, as a result of cancer.

I have known Donna and her husband Andy for a number of years and can only convey our sympathies to the family.

Donna had been unwell for some time, before doctors realised that she was suffering from incurable cancer, and despite giving her a few months to survive, she passed away quietly after only a matter of weeks.

Donna, a nurse, was quite a character, a strong personality who loved her family very much and will greatly missed by Andy who has managed to cope under very serious pressure. They have three children who will need all the support they can get.

Thinking back a number of years, we had Donna and Andy at the barracks for a Sunday, "fun day", and everyone took part in an obstacle course, which ended up with all the unfit participants hobbling around Penicuik for days afterwards.

Andy worked at Edinburgh Crystal glass before being made redundant on its closeure.

The funeral is on saturday next at the Sacred Heart Church, Penicuik, at 10 a.m.

Musselburgh races

Good luck and bad luck . Punters gave me some tips so I had a 1st and 2nd doubled which gave me a£6 return on my £6 , however, a couple came in and said that they were up from Cheshire to back their horse, so I stuck a £5 e.w. on it but it was nowhere to be seen - down £4 on the day.

Musselburgh is generally seriously unpredictable as anything can happen.

Weather wise, a bit chilly despite the sun but a very poor turn out.

End result, Shaun and i had a fairly quiet day, got a few jobs done before Robbie and Kerrin took over.

Winter is here.

Rather cold and windy morning, perfect for the Holiday Monday (September weekend) and with Musselburgh Races on today, not the kind of weather anyone wants to be standing out in.
Have not seen the national forecast but we have quite a few away for the weekend , many to Blackpool for their annual trip to see the famous illuminations. ( light bulbs swinging in the gales).

Another bad night for me, however , system beginning to come to and then it is off, via Shaun's and down the road early in case I have to go to the bank and cash and carry.

Brain far too confused for me to be sending E mails this morning.

Robbie has reported that the karaoke was good last night, nice crowd who all enjoyed themselves, so the Final, hopefully will be great next Sunday - something for me to look forward to as I am on I think.

SCAMS

Some weeks ago I received a series of letters from the "Unclaimed Prize Register", PO Box 107, Ross on Wye, saying that I had won a prize in a national competition, all I had to do was phone a priority phone number and get an allocation code, or write to them. I checked the web and found several adverse comments about this organisation . However, I wrote, stating that if I had wone I would like my prize, if not I would write to the Trading Standards, etc. Yesterday I received a letter saying I had won a miniture camera and all I had to do was return my voucher along with £6.50 to PO Box 107.

In the same post I received a letter from "The Award Winners Exchange" PO Box 29, Ross on Wye. telling me that I had definitely won a prize in another competition and all I had to do was make a six minute phone call & £1.50 per minute to get my claim number !!! Here we go again.

Answer is tear them all up, or check them out on the web and pass details to Trading Standards.

Kind of tired today.

Saturday waS a long day, and I was up early again this morning to take Graham to the Mercat, then to the Sportsmans, where I heard that Chick had taken unwell last night. Anyway, Chick arrived, nearly as large as life and would not take a telling !!!

Discovered that I had forgotton the sandwiches so had to go back to Edinburgh for them - what a running about, and eventually headed home at 2 p..m in time to see the end of the Belguim Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton came in 4th.

Sparky arrived later to fix a leak - and managed to do so without flooding the house.

Semi final of the karaoke competition tonight, with the final next week.

Musselburgh Races on Monday so all hands on deck again.

Our Willie and his pal Gerard

Have been meaning to load this picture for some time. This is my brother in law, William ( on the right), and while we were on holiday in Hong Kong he recognised this chap !! He went and spoke to him and was correct in that it was Gerard Heullier, former Liverpool manager who agreed to have his photograph taken.

Coincidentally, having met him on this occasion on "The Peak", which is the main viewpoint for the city, we bumped into him on another two occasions.

Trying a flash back session

OK going to have a go at short feed backs based on things which have happened today - may not make sense to everyone but for several it will.


Firstly, Ann had a look at the blog for the first time and said that she should be vetting it - NOT !!

Busy at pub until I left but has been steady since then -

Shaun missed his bus, having to travel from Penicuik, 1 hour each way must be a bit of a bind when you have no car - anyway he did phone in, and there was no problem.

Hannah, this was her last day at "The Mercat Bar", she is off to Australia on holiday and then will be so busy working at the Scottish Executive that she will be unable to give us much help, to Hannah, best of luck, you have been superb.

I hear that Jonathon (my nephew) Jamie Gair and Stevie all had serious sore heads this morning.

Marky Sparky, came home after K.T's and had his tea and drinks. He was saying that he nearly blew up his mother when he left the elecric kettle, full of water on a hob on his electric cooker. Hob was switched on, base of kettle melted and there was a big bang - fortunately mother survived.

Gordon and Sandra have reported back on our last day out, BBQ at the Courtyard bar, after I left, seriously under the weather, they headed up town and eventually, much later on, arrived at CC Blooms, where much to Gordon's horror, he was invited up to dance by another "chappie".

Karen Finlay, and friends called in to the bar, they are off tonight to Benidorm to attempt to drink the place dry this week. Karen is a great worker who had been with us for three years, and her pal, little Karen, likewise, but she a mega problem when under the influence.

Andrew Brash is walking about with a tooth, or crown of tooth in his wallet having lost it the other night grinding his teeth.

All the best to Billy King, at 70 + bored out his skull in the Victoria Hospital recovering from both heart surgery and a hip replacement.

Chris Reid, and family, very concerned about grandad, 90+ , who is in hospital and hopefully on the mend.

Grant, Photogenix, trying his best to support us following the loss of budgie - hard to accept the inevitable.

KT's today were good, worked a Malta, with three candidates - nice degree. And Dennis Morrison was good enough to send in a nice letter of apology.

Thinking of Archie and Tracy, not heard from them in a couple of weeks, and Ray ( @ Grandad) moving house so he is out of touch. And Danny and Katrina. On the other hand spoke to Normin( @ stormin Normin) who I have not heard from for a while - good one Norman , see you on Tuesday at 720.

Tonight's wine is Hardys VR Shiraz 2005 on offer at £3.99 from Sommerfields.

Robbie was saying his dad in Australia was reading this daily to hear what was going on, look forward to seeing him in December.

Right, had enough, been a long few days, new brain in morning

My rant and rave about Friday.

Some notes about Friday 14th.
Another bad night and up early.

Graham was up the garden still convinced that the missing budgie might reappear.

Graham wanted the car so I took out my trusty steed of steel, mounted up , and made it safely to the garage where I blew up a couple of soft tyres. Motorcycle tyres deflate very slowly when not is use so you have to check them regularly.

Heading through Bilston when I made the serious error of overtaking a lady in a blue Nova with a nice little green "L" plate on the car. She appeared to be rather displeased that I had passed her, cut up on my insde and tried to force me into a keep left island, with her hand kept solid on the horn - I presume that the menopause was upon her , or that she was just plain loony. Ann later suggested that "I should have punched her lights out", which I take to be yet another female response.

Fairly steady day in the pub, managed to get some chores done, acquire additional stock and change to cope with the weekend.
Sent Chick home to put his teeth in before he went to the bank in case he frightened the tellers. Robbie took over and managed to juggle shifts to get some proper cover for the weekend _ I think, and even had a busy evening.

Headed home at 5 p.m. and eventually caught up with a convoy of three tracorts on the back road from Rosewell to Howgate, all travelling about 50 yards apart, loaded high with bales of hay, and causing total chaos. No one could get by them as they were so close and moving at speeds between 5 mph and 25 mph. I can assure you that the Angels looked very kindly upon a couple of drivers who took serious risks to get past.

Home in time for a quick bite of tea then back down the road again to Bonnyrigg for the half yearly meeting of the Provincial Royal Arch Chapter. Very good attendance from as far afield as Greenock. However, manged to get myself into a bit of a tizzy later on so not being good company left for home, where my day was finished off by watching England receive a sound thumping by South Africa at the rugby world cup 33 - 0. Looks like it is back to the drawing board again.


No Saturday noon, have already been to the Mercat to drop off Graham, and down here at the Sportsmans since 8.45 a.m. - end result is that the best is lovely, lager is ice cold and sweet, and IPA , near perfect.


Both Paul and Chick in cleaning this morning so place is spick and span, Michelle R. on the bar which is still quiet, but should pick up with four football games on the TV this afternoon.

Princess Kerrin called to say Hi., and offer to work as she does not have "big school" on Monday and will be allowed out to play on Sunday. She is off to a fancy dress party tonight as "Zoro's " missus.

Meeting Sparky Mark at Dalkeith 2 p.m if it is quiet here to go see the working of a Malta degree at the K.T.'s.

Thursday was a long day

A wee bit tired this morning.

Despite not going out to work yesterday I spent most of the day either on the computer or doing paperwork, and was still in my housecoat at 3 p.m. Anyway, then went to bank ( Hi Christine), shops etc, had tea , before going to masonic meeting at Dalkeith.

Well done to big Ian for his new position for this year, he snever stops, between his work on the taxis, his radio job with Black Diamond, and everything else.

Andy Brash had bad toothache having lost a crown from his tooth, not very nice. Anyway , chaps were ingood form and it was an excellent evening.

Sparky Mark, called late on, so he is still in one piece having survived five days of work without destroying any dwellings occupied by "homo sapien".

This mornings letter to Bob
Morning Bob,

you know Bob, we men just cannot win can we?

Yesterday I went to the shops to get some messsages, popped into the supermarket, great, not a soul at the checkouts with two operators sitting chatting, BUT BUT, by the time I had scooted round there were queues, so they called for another operator and of course folks were then diving across for the other till to open. Anyway, decided to buy Ann some fowers to replace the ones I bought in August for our anniversary, as the heads had dropped off. Got home and she said, "what have you been up to, these are only the second bunch of flowers you have ever bought me" ( not true), then , out the blue - " you have never taken me on a date in 37 years ! Whats that all about ?
However I won some wee bottles of perfume in a raffle last night and she liked them.

Otherwise, this styleaphone thing, whatever happened to the comb and Izal paper, its demise started with the introduction of quilted toilet paper, or the Gzzuu. (There is now a new styleaphone on the market which you can play along with your MP3 player)

OK , time to bash on, must be at Sportsmans early to see the Bellhaven engineers and find out what got flooded last night during Robbie the Koala huggers shift.

R.I.P.

I think, that after a week we have to accept that our dearly departed budgie, Bluey, has now gone to that great aviary in the sky - god rest his little soul.
The possible culprits for this departure are a. one evil looking black cat , or b) a grey squirrell, but I am not sure if squirrells eat budgies !! This one has taken to prowling about on the roof of the conservatory - maybe looking for his next meal.
One of our less feeling friends suggested "buy the cat a treat, get a canary"

On the same sad note, big George (the brickie), told us that his wife's little dog died on Friday. He is really a big sogtie at heart, because despite threatening to throw it in the Esk on several occasions, he is now missing " the patter of little feet" in the morning. And on the same note, and in the same breath, George said that his Granny had died on the same day as the dog, aged 81 years. Our thoughts are with the family.

Shaun / Michelle C.

Big thanks to Shaun and Michelle C. who were working last night and who said that, despite everything, they had a great time with the crowd in the Sportsman s Bar

Sorry about the "flak" you had to take later, you were only doing your job.

The Legal Point of view

This is a follow up to the previous blog " Scotland 1 - France 0" and an unfortunate conflict of views / opinions which occurred after the game last night.

Obviously all licensed premises are governed by the law and we have prescribed opening and closing hours , as laid down by the local licensing boards, which also state that there is a 15 minute drinking up period after which time the premises must be clear of patrons.

I have had problems in the past with both patrons refusing to leave (which led to an assault) and a Police officer who took me to task, twice, for failing to clear the premises.

We now close the bar 15 minutes before the normal closing time which gives 30 mins "to drink up and get out".
Unfortunately - last night, some of our patrons were unhappy that we closed the bar on time considering that" the Police would look the other way in view of the exceptional circumstances".
Sadly, it does not work this way, and all it would have taken was a single complaint by a neighbour, etc, or an observant CCTV operator, and we would have been liable for prosecution.

As a point of law, the hours permitted on our license, do not mean that we have to be open during those hours, a licensee is permitted to open and close at any time within those hours at his discretion.

Staff on duty are responsible for ensuring that the laws are complied with, and in the event of a breach, the Licensee, whether present or not is also liable.