Hectic time - understatement

Thursday night and now relaxing in the BMI lounge at Edinburgh airport, waiting a flight to London.

Last couple o days have been a bit tiring, up at 4.45 a.m. to be in town and open up the bar by 0545 in order that a film crew cold get in. They were making a training video on behalf of one of the banks and needed a bar scenario.

Biggest problem was having to tip toe around the place while the recording was taking place, no hassle for me being a trained backwoodsman !! (old Scout) unlike Jeff the cleaner who has two flat left feet!!

Tuesday night I was down at Bonnyrigg for the first meeting of Laird o Cockpen RA 500, there was a good attendance and our Grand Supertendant Alex Mooney took the floor for an E. M Degree, very good. Pity Tam was losing his voice, nearly gone by the time he finished - so there was peace and quiet for Kathryn when he got home.

Wednesday, another early rise for our budding actors, who were joined by the lovely Kiera Murphy, Comedienne, who had been coopted to play the role of a cynical "mature" woman !! Pity her male counterpart had not learned his lines, bit of serious hair pulling going on.

3 p.m. another session at the Dental hospital as part of a lead up to future treatment., From there it was over to Henricks Bar, the new home of Sir Chris and the birthday girl, Miss Talk a lot @ Ailsa. A big crowd of friends and well wishers turned up to make the evening a memorable event.

Several Merlot's later it was time to get the McEwan's coach home and to bed !! Out for the count.

Quiet day today recovering before heading into town, firstly for a coffee at Henricks (and a small Auchentoshen - which brought back a few memories of Pentland Bond). Walked down through Fountainbridge and had a look at the reinstated Edinburgh Quay which was the dock at the end of the Union Canal, really very nice setting now. Over the road is the old Co-Op building, with some interesting panels on the wall. Then to The Mercat Bar for dinner before getting the airport bus ( old age has its benefits - bus pass).

Inverness, Gateway to the Highlands - but getting there

"Best laid plans of mice and men", so they say - checking E mails on the lap top, 8 a.m. yesterday when up popped another job for me - in Inverness !! So there I was with one job to finish and my plans up in the air. Anyway, did the business in Aberdeen, of interest, I was working near the airport and heliport and during the whole time I was there , there was a constant noise from the helicopters, but the locals seem to be immune to it.
Headed north east, only 111 miles, but what a hellish road, up through Elgin, Forres, etc, and when you were stuck behind a lorry it was down to an average of about 40 / 45 mph so it took over two and a half hours for the run.

Got slightly lost in Inverness and nearly ended up on the Black Isle, but managed to get off just before the bridge and eventually found the office I was making for. Weather was really pleasant so it was nice to get out in the fresh air and do the site visit in pleasant surroundings, an old mansion house on the outskirts of the town.

Eventually time to head for home, big changes in Inverness since I was last there, a very thriving and expanding town, lots of new roundabouts !! but I did reach the A9, and onto the dual carriageway south towards Edinbugh. However my luck was short lived, dual carriage way down to standard two lane, and lots more lorries. There are big signs asking drivers who are forming queues to pull over and let the traffic past, but looks like some of these drives cannot read "Scottish".
Over the top of the Slocht summit the main railway line runs beside the road and there was a long line of goods wagons sitting, all in the Stobart livery and pulled by a Stobart train - I thought that was a good idea to cut down on the number of lorries on the road - wrong, most definately wrong line of thinking, as I joined the end of a long line of vehicles, down to 35 mph, following an Eddie Stobart wagon, so miles later, seriously frustrated I managed to get by on one of the short sections of dual carriageway - hooray.

BUT - I needed a break so stopped at the massive House of Bruar complex, changed days from when I used to camp there with the Scottish Schoolboys Club during the 60's, it is a superb shopping stop and has a great range of all sorts of quality goods. I was looking for my friend Kenny Jack, but discovered he was no longer there.
Back onto the A9 and off again, but found myself behind the same Eddie Stobart lorry again, and on the one long straight where it was safe to pass, he did flash for cars to pass, but had anyone done so they would have been nabbed by a roadside speed camera - the A9 is a 60 mph limit and the Police are always on patrol in unmarked cars nabbing the frustrated drivers.

To cut a long story / journey short I eventually made it safely to Edinburgh by 5.30pm just in time for the Evening rush hour - what an ideal way to end a 400 mile trip!!! Especially when the last bit home was on the beloved McEwans Coach as I had dropped off the car in town.

Hellish day - but at least I did get some work done.

Today and the week ahead

Long day today, restless night once again, and eventually up and out by 7 a.m., Mercat was steady enough, lovely day, bit cold . Still lots of visitors in the town but on nice days they head for the city centre before stopping.

Took the opportunity after lunch to go see the Turkish boys and have my ears set on fire, much needed.

Home to get changed and then off northwards to Aberdeen to do one of my other jobs up there. En route I saw droves of Rangers F C supporters heading south after their successful defeat of Aberdeen - 3 - 2, all three goals scored in the 2nd half.

Made it to the College, had a look around and found my bed for the night. Took myself off for a beer and was unfortunate enough to end up in a bar where English appeared to be the second language for some of the locals, certainly not conducive to fostering good relationships with visitors. In my days in the Sportsman's Bar in Musselburgh I would have been waving the "attitude adjuster" at them and chucking them out.

So, Monday I will finishing this job here, heading South again, Tue and Wed early shifts in The Mercat ( 6 a.m for a project). Tue night 1st meeting of R A Laird O Cockpen, No 500; Wed night it is Miss talk a Lot's birthday so we are going to see her at Henricks Bar, her new abode along with Sir Chris. Thursday night big silver bird will take Me and Mrs B south to the "Big Smoke" , not to see the Queen or check out the pavements of Gold _ I have an EPIC meeting on Friday in the City, so I intend to make the weekend of it.
Long week ahead.

Be true to yourself - honesty is the best policy

Not sure how this chain of thought came about, but I had a conversation with a lady today who told me things about her past which she had never told to anyone else - she was open, honest and felt vulnerable exposing "herself" to a stranger - Me - of all people.

BUT it made me think - I personally try to honest and truth full and I certainly see no point in exaggerating, what is the point - the only person you deceive is yourself. Many years ago I elected to run one hundred miles for charity round a set course at the local army barracks and it was up to me to declare my daily mileage - easy for me to tell lies, no, I did the mileage as per the book - knackered as I was.

Brings me back to the honesty thing, write a CV and add a few embellishments, pretend a little, get the job, BUT wait for the bite back if you are unlucky. No point in saying you can fly a 777 when all you have flown is a Cesna;

Me - I have been struggling for months to do some work - just getting nowhere fast, no matter how hard I try - I have already said I am toiling, end result I am being helped, but at the end of the day I do what I do - but unfortunately not as well as I would have wished to do.
Be true to yourself - do not bullshit, might not suit some of your family or friends, but from may you will earn respect.

Beautifull St Mary's and disasterous Delhi

What a lovely Autumn morning as I headed into town around 7 a.m., with a full moon in the Wet and a nice sunrise to the East - end result, perfect conditions for photographs. Parking in my usual Saturday spot I had to pass St Mary's Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, one of my favourite places in the city. With perfect lighting the detail of the south windows was superb - hence the following three photos which magnify to show the marvellous detail by the stonemasons.

This has to be in stark contrast with the recent shambolic structures we have seen in the media of the so called Commonwealth Stadium and Games Village in Delhi, India. What a dammed disgrace, but not unexpected. I keep forgetting to track down the photos I took while in India of various construction sites - WIP ( Work in progress) a total farce when you see four or five men with a cement mixer, supposed to be rebuilding a highway!!! In Mumbai, the main motorway from the airport into the City is like a roller coaster with different sections NOT QUITE MEETING IN THE MIDDLE !! so you are zooming along (bumping along) on one section, then down a ramp, over a bumpy area where they did not meet , then up a ramp and off again.

While I was in the City there was a death when a balcony collapsed and killed a tourist, the enquiry revealed that the cement used during the construction was so adulterated due to the bags been opened and cement stolen and the remainder mixed with rubbish.

Our friend now runs a big business out there and when he tried to give his staff a pay rise the Union stepped in and objected, it turns out that he has to pay the Union Rep who pays the workers, but for every £1 he pays the Union the workers get 25p. !!!!!!

From the photos in the media it is obvious that the workers have been living "on the job" in the games village which accounts for the filthy conditions of the accommodation, which is obviously palatial compared to their normal living conditions - shanty towns , cardboard boxes, and under tarpaulins by the roadside.

Tonight,s media conference was a classic with everyone blaming each other and no one accepting responsibility.

Touch wood we will not have a repeat of the horrific scenes when the Raj Hotel in Mumbai was taken over by terrorists, set on fire and ended up with carnage.

Installation RA 305 Honour, Concord and Fidelity

Despite a hectic, and fairly long day at the Bar, I made it home, had an hour with the feet up before heading off to Loanhead for a meeting of R.A. No 305, Honour, Concord and Fidelity. The meeting was the annual installation of Office bearers and the the Installing Board of Andy McKeen; Alex Moonie; Bert Waite and Jim McQueen BEM did a superb job of installing the new 1st Principle, John Gilroy; and his officers, Gordon Strange and Stuart Fraser.

A job well done and a great evening.

Oops chaps, not a clever thing to do - the van driver appears to have run a red light ad hit the guy in the Ford who was turning right on a filter arrow - BUT from my bird's eye seat on the bus bound for home I did not see the actual impact - but others did.
Wednesday managed to get the day off, even so I still ended up in Mercat Bar by 9 a.m. but did not stay long before heading off for a ramble around the town. Eventually caught a 22 bus and headed for the Gyle Shopping Centre passing some of the ongoing track laying taking place ( for the trams) albeit we may never have any trams - and in the process they have used the old dedicated bus lanes, but if the trams do arrive we will not need the 22 Bus.
Bit of a dizzy in the Gyle, headed for Sarbucks, thinking I might get the free WI FI along with my coffee like we did in the USA , but this being the UK, you need to pay for the service here - no way, so that has discouraged me from buying their overpriced coffee. At least we do offer free WI FI in the bar.
Headed home, changed and then we all headed back to the Mercat to meet and have dinner with Sir Chris and Miss Talk a lot who had made it safely back from Ullapool.
Very nice dinner (steaks of course) washed down with a bottle or two of nice wine - not me as I was diver elect. Good night had by all and we wished the twosome well in their new venture at Hendrick.s Bar, Bruntsfield.

Managed yet another bit of free time today, but with a constant downpour no point in going anywhere other than to have a shower in the garden with my soap on a rope and save water. So it was a case of doing some wee chores in the house.

We did have an injured pigeon yesterday which was fed and left in a quiet corner to recover, but it had taken itself off this morning.

Eventually took a wander into the metropolis of Penicuik, a few more shops sitting vacant, a sign that Tesco and the shops at Straiton Park are taking their toll on local business.
Bumped in an avid Jambo ( Hearts supporter), Eddie Anderson, a former colleague of mine - we once beat the Scottish Police Pairs Champs at a bowling tournament in Grangemouth, Eddie had a set of old "woods" ( bowls) one of which could literally do a right turn as it was stopping - handy bowl to have. He is now in his 70's and doing well.

Series of drugs raids taking place in Edinburgh with a number of arrests being made. The Drugs agency is also planning a crack down on lawyers, accountants, etc who are aiding criminals - about time, and from the papers tonight they should include a few of the rogue London estate agents who have been scamming the Immigrants by renting them houses already occupied but where the owners are absent even for a short time. One man who had been ill for a couple of days found that the "squatters" had moved in and flung out his possessions - and with the archaic laws it takes months to get a court order.

Early rise again in the morning, back to work again, and with luck should make it to the Honour Concorde, RA tomorrow night.

Window's scammers - on my travels

Tuesday night , CSI Miami on the box, been busy in the Mercat Bar for the last few days. Just booked a couple of tickets for London next week so I can go to an EPIC AGM on the 1st.
BUT still have jobs in Aberdeen, Ayr and Birmingham to deal with !!!! Sooner I get the motor bike back on the road the better.

Really annoyed tonight when a gent with an Indian accent phoned to say he was from Windows Service Section to warn me that my computer had been infected !! - sufficient for me to chase him and tell me to E mail or write - so two hours later having run a full scan on the system it was clear - BUT how easy would it have been for the more vulnerable ????
These scamming "twats" are just as bad as the thieves who mug and rob in the streets, but need more vigilance and should be more seriously punished.

Having said that - there have been a few items in the newspapers recently about people screwing the benefit system, father of umpteen children to different mothers with a cumulative cost to US the taxpayers of £1.5 million . Time to introduce castration or sterilisation for these folk. Why should respectable, sensible people pay for the irresponsible actions of numpties.

Talking of India - big furore about the chaos in Delhi prior to the start of the Commonwealth Games in a couple of weeks - main footbridge leading to the main venue has collapsed !!! accommodation is not finished , athletes have already pulled out - what a potential mess.

Last shift for Sir Chris - helping to dine out in style.

Busy night for Sir Chris's last shift, he took his time and set up the dining room for another formal
dinner and had the dining room looking really smart for the guests. A great night was had by all who really enjoyed the meal, and general ambiance.

His farewell message was left for the staff this morning, so cheers Chris, have a few days chilling up there in Ullapool and come back ready for the next phase of your life.

Scooby Doo - Austin and Sir Chris's last shift

Saturday, feet up after a day in The Mercat Bar. In the meantime Mrs B. had been out and about in the town and had met up with Archie (Pole Dancer) Tracy and young Austin in the Standing Order. Austin was doing a fine impression of taking a strunt, but "scooby doo" remained calm and unperturbed !!

Otherwise, bit of a sad day as this is Sir Chris's last shift in the Mercat Bar, five years he has been with RGB, but the move has eventually taken place as he and Miss Talk a lot (Ailsa) take over as "mine hosts" in Henryks Bar, by the Kings Theatre, Edinburgh as of the 27th. Wee nights dooo on the 29th in the Bar as that is also Ailsa's (Repeat 21st) birthday . Camera in Edinburgh , other wise photos would have been on.

Visitors from Westchester, PA and Switzerland

Visited today by Susan and Stephen MacGuinness, from Westchester, USA, which was very good as RGB, Sir Chris and myself have all been there at some stage. They had a good blether to RGB and heard stories of our adventures in Jake's Bar.





They are planning on heading there when they get home to give an update on our activities in the Mercat Bar.

Discovered that there had been an big conference related to the tobacco industry at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, and had a visit from the quality control Director of Philip Morris tobacco, who thoroughly enjoyed his taste of Steve Stewart's 80 Shilling beer.

Just a pity he was heading back to Switzerland in the morning so he missed other sampling. He made an interesting comment about the smell of hops from the breweries in Edinburgh. having a finely tuned nose to test the tobacco he is also aware of the smells in the atmosphere and his surroundings. Oddly we must take the smells as a norm in our daily life, aprt from the days when it is exceptionally strong and noticeable.

The Pope and other visitors.

Once again starting to run out of hours in the day, and a busy day it has been. Pope Benedict XVI was in town which caused a considerable bit of traffic chaos, looked superb on TV but being at work I could not get near the route. The convoy did pass within a couple of hundred yards but at that stage the Pope was in a sealed blackened out car heading for the Palace before he entered the Popemobile and did the City tour.

Bar was pretty busy most of the day and I met a few of the customers, Firstly, Scott Cloyd from Aurora , Missouri, USA , a masonic gentleman and member of Lodge Monett No 129 ; RA Greenfield No 84; who was over here to visit Grand lodge of Scotland; Mother Lodge Killwinning, Ayrshire and also Rosslyn Chapel.






There was also Petre and Monica Popeanga from Bucharest, here on business and who had thoroughly enjoyed their stay in Edinburgh.

Rangers F. C. hold their own - did better than me

Sitting watching Rangers v Manchester United which ended at 0 - 0 Great result for Rangers playing away from home. I have said before that I totally detest the Sky Sports commentators, they would be better off with gags in their mouths instead of spouting a load of rubbish, just for the sake of hearing their own voices.

Would be better off with the sound off and listening to the radio commentary.

Anyway, bit of a wasted day off - headed out on foot in the rain to see Cruella, but she had been called away so I got an earlier bus than usual into town. With time to spare dropped into The Standing order and had a coffee with Archie, Tracey and bump - nice to see her looking so swell. Next call to see Megan at Frasers, and then on to The Mercat Bar in time to assist over the lunch period.

The couple in the photo, Quentin Hilpert and Connie Waddell, customers in the Bar are mining engineers who work in the biggest copper mine in the USA in Arizona It was just a coincidence that their visit coincided with the visit to Heriot Watt University by the gold mining magnate , Robert Buchan who has donated £1.3m for a research project.

Managed to get away early and jumped on the bus which ground to halt in Princes Street which was a bit like a car park - nothing going anywhere very fast, and buses everywhere. Not helped of course by what looks like becoming Edinburgh City Council's latest "folly", the tram to nowhere - from comments in the newspaper tonight there is a feeling that the Council have just wasted £500m (Five Hundred Million) and that the way things are going with the legal wrangle with TIE that the whole scheme could be scrapped !!!! So if you want some advice on how to bankrupt a City in one easy lesson - send a self addressed envelope and stamp to Edinburgh City Council, where they are likely to steam the stamp off the envelope and ignore you as is usual. Not sure what will happen on Thursday when the Pope drops in for a visit which will cause total mayhem. I think they convoy will be going along Princes Street so perhaps Prince Philip who is acting host,might stop and let the Pope have a wee look at the static tram - I am sure he would find it of interest.

Made it home eventually in a convoy of No. 37 buses, feet up for a wee bit and then took a trip to see Grant@Photogenix who has relocated from his shop in Bonnyrigg and was in full swing knocking out photos for customers.

Early rise in the morning as the Clientele of the Mercat Bar are in for the pleasure of my company in the morning.

The Mercat Bar Party - Sunday event

It was perhaps not the most welcoming sight !! the giant hog roast on the balcony, but it did taste delicious .

Those who turned up, many in Hawaiian shirts and wearing the floral Lea round the neck. Entertainment was supplied by the marvellous Andy Chung, who is launching his new CD "Auld Acquaintance" at a session in the Leith Dockers Social Club on 3oth Sept. at 7.30 p.m., based on yesterday it should be a good night.

We also had a great session by the local duo, BLEEKER, who are apparently doing very well on I Tunes.

There was a guest appearance by Ian Waugh from Radio Forth, who arrived with a sore bottom having just ridden fifty miles for the Children's charity, from Glasgow to Edinburgh along with some of the other DJ's. He was very good and met young Amy who has spent a great deal of time in the Sick Children's Hospital during the past two years.

The charity bucket was filling up, so hopefully before the next big event, on 17Th October when RGB does his 10 K run and the evening bash there will be a bit more cash donated.

Good day had by all - well done and thanks to those who supported the event.

City of Edinburgh Pipe Band.

Met this young man, David, last night outside The Mercat Bar as he headed home. He was proud as punch as his pipe band, The City of Edinburgh Pipe Band, who are a Grade three had just won a Grade Two competition in Peebles in the afternoon. It reminded me of the late Norrie Summors of the Woolmet Pipe Band, which is now the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band, and of his brother George Summors who was an International Grade One judge. Well done David and the rest of the band.

On our way home later we spotted one of the Penicuik Hunter and Lass' s squad still in his riding gear so he must also have been down at Peebles for the day.

The Mercat Bar Party night - Sat.

A selection of photos taken last night at the Party Night in The Mercat Bar. good night had by all, a few sore heads no doubt, but a good time had by all. Starting all ober again today at lunch time with the pipe band and hog roast.