Heritage, winds and history

Oh my goodness, what a day - here we have had the worst storms in ten ten years - schools closed, the Forth and Eskine Bridges closed, winds of up to 165 mph recorded in the Cairngorms- was it a hurricane, or as some have already said on T shirts , "a bit of a blaw bag day !!!! "- but some of the scenes on the TV certainly support the precautionary closure of schools etc - especially the sight of a school bus on its side - we even had a wind turbine disintegrate in flames ( which begs the question - if they do not work when there is no wind, and they burn out in high winds !!!!!!!), queues of twenty miles trying to get over the Kincardine Bridge, and Edinburgh Airport closed for two hours.

For me I had an interesting day in the town - en route in the McEwans rattling bus which gets through everything the weather throws at it, when my morning's appointment was cancelled= but I had a wander ( up and down side streets to dodge the wind) - and as usual looking at where I was going , firstly, Maria Stopes, first lady to get a University Certificate as she was not allowed a Degree - she was best known for her work in birth control and subjected to a great deal of opposition from the Catholic Church. next plaque in St Andrew's Square (where our economy warriors still camp out) who was very much involved in the anti- slavery movement.

I was at the Playhouse Theatre box office and with time to spare took myself into the Glasshouse Hotel, totally amazing to see the transformation from this gap site which was formerly a church - for several years the facade was preserved under scaffolding - but now - fronts an amazing sixty five room four star hotel - I had a wee tour of the premises (courtesy of Laurence) and had a look at a couple of the top range suits, superb, and named after the best Scottish single malt whiskey's - Dalmore, McCallum, Glenfarglas, etc - ( fingers crossed for this weeks lottery!!!)

Bit question - during my amblings today - every single seller of the "Big Issue" I met was of Asian or Eastern European origin !!! and it has been suggested that if they are regular sales people of the Big issue, they then get categorised as being self employed they get better benefits - which they can send back to their families abroad !!!

BUT - more importantly - more annoyingly, and a matter which caused me great distress -( a subject which I would ask experts to research) why are my "Loo Bloos so dammed ineffective - definite Trades Description offences - how many days, minutes, seconds do these things work for, certainly no where near anything they suggest.

This obviously follows on nicely to the recent TV programme about the serious diddling / conning of the giant supermarket chains, Tesco/ Asda/ Sainsbury/ etc. - it added to all the wee comments I have made recently about Tesco's diddles. I can only advise that everyone takes time and reads the labels on these so called bargain offers.