Fair trockled this evening.

It has been a day and a half, for want of a better expression.
Arrrived at The Mercat bar and had a nice start by having to unchoke drains !!, Jack of All Trades, then discovered that the upstairs phones were not working , which turns out to be the result of a visit by the BSkyB engineer yesterday who replaced a cable but failed to realise what else the cables were doing !! So despite my best efforts all I could do was resite the remote and at least have some contact with the world till Mitch our techie whiz or Sir Christopher gets back.

About 1145 we had a momentary power cut which caused the computer and tills to crash - but ours came back to life seconds later. However, unknown to us this was causing havoc in the many offices nearby where the power was still down - so at 12 md or thereabouts our doors opened and in trekked lots of folks, given an extended lunch hour till the power came on - so there we were, three on the floor, two in the kitchen and a FULL house, every seat taken. BUT no one was in a real rush so we were able to get everyone fed and watered to their satisfaction, however I am sure that Claire , Andy, Jamie, Alana and myself have all lost weight with all the running up and down stairs, etc. As they say, how time flies when you are enjoying yourself.

In the meantime, outside, the tram folks were thumping and banging, filling in the great big hole having sorted the gas leak - I just had to turn up the volume on the Golden Oldies (70's today) to drown out the noise.
Mrs B. appeared at lunch time, to be dispatched to assist in the kitchen ( hands that do dishes), which was very much appreciated.

Time flew and I just made it to the bank on time before it closed.

Now getting organised for another early rise in the morning to go to the BMI breakfast meeting (cult) to represent RGB, and myself of course.

Have just finished reading Andrew Stewart's publication on (The Harbours and Environs of East Lothian and Berwickshire), which was very interesting, and has given me the notion to head off along the cost and visit some of the places mentioned. Cove Harbour with its access by tunnel through the cliffs, and its history of smuggling. The Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 where the Jacobites fought with the Royal Army led by Sir John Cope, which was the inspiration of the song "Hey Johnnie Cope" Seacliffe Harbour, the Hidden or Secret harbour, one of the smallest in the country and the nearby Seacliffe House used as a secret base by a naval research unit during WW 2 . The tragic deaths of 189 fishermen in October 1881 trying to get back into Eyemouth harbour in the face of a storm , and Eyemouth now the home of a large fishing/ maritime museum. A fascinating wee book, well produced and researched in the same manner as his previous book on railway bridges. Well done Andrew.