Perhaps I should have stayed in bed today -

Restless night and awake very early before heading to town. I had been asked to stop off at The Mercat Bar to drop of some packages, stopped in the loading bay as usual and went inside to drop things off. When I came out the lady traffic warden, who I had seen before going in had just stuck a parking ticket on the car - however as the ticket was already on the car I was told to write in and dispute it. Biggest problem was the white van man (a seriously gobby chap) who was shouting and bawling about me being stopped there, and it looks as though he had been getting on at the traffic warden for letting me stop there and she had acted after only a few minutes. So it looks like the answer is for me to get a big white van as the wardens obviously cannot believe that shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and publicans, etc use cars to collect goods from cash and carry, etc and make deliveries to their premises - a bit of stereotyping , etc.

I came back later having parked up elsewhere, no traffic wardens, and watched a lorry driver trying to get into the same loading bay but his mate had to chase a couple of cars first.

At least we do not have that problem out at The Dolphin Inn, where there is plenty parking - and the food is good too.

Bar was busy as the stragglers from the King of Leon concert last night, having vacated their hotel rooms needed to get fed and wait for trains, etc. The group photographed in the previous blog were in for lunch, all from the Clydebank area, a lot quieter than yesterday, but still in very good humour.

Home to Penicuik and the rain again - at least the plants were not needing watered yet - only to find that I had a puncture so it was out with the jack and wheel brace.

Andy Murray did well today, a fairly straight forward win , not sure who he plays next, but it could be getting tougher for him.

Lots of interest in the story about the fire at Whitburn Miners Club, now being investigated by the fire service, etc.

Trams have hit the headlines again, big time, with the Edinburgh Evening News publishing the results of a local poll/ survey which shows that the majority of the public were in favour of the project being scrapped. Most revealing were the snippets about the people on the project who were being paid between £1000 and £1200 a DAY. Council leader Jenny Dawe apparently described the problems as being a "small glitch" - which is probably an appropriate comment from someone who heads up an organisation who spend their lives with their heads stuck halfway into an orifice where the sun rarely shines. BUT who cares, it is not their money, they have no accountability.

Interestingly, the new extension of the M77 motorway in Glasgow has just been completed months ahead of schedule and way below budget - the contractors must have thought that the quicker the job was done the less material and equipment would be pinched from the job !!!