Sunshine , Bangs and songs

Currently a film called "Sunshine over Leith" in the cinemas which is proving very popular,  not seen it myself, but everyone is singing the songs. 
Anyway,  have added some photos from my visit to Leith Docks during the week,  when, coincidentally, the sun was shining.

I always find something to interest me there -  at the other end of the harbour is a virtual mountain with thousands of tons of scrap metal waiting to be shipped out the country, no doubt to India or China,   no wonder the metal thieves are so prevalent.  I heard a story that they were waiting under the cross country pylons while the men were repairing wires above them, and threats were such that the engineers were told to stay above ground till the thieving twats had left.
Lead stolen from windows at George Heriot's School, sculptures, Grannies's tea pot -  nothing is sacred -

Another busy day at the Mercat Grill,  once again many nice customers, repeats and newbies,  so we are certainly doing something right, good food, good staff, pleasant surroundings,  only time will tell.

Next Saturday, fireworks followed by a "yard of Ale",  something to look forward to.

Thomas Beck Hunter VC

Lovely day today, had time off and ended up at Ocean Terminal for a wee walk in the sun.
Found this memorial at the quayside, dedicated Thomas Beck Hunter VC, from Leith, a former employee of Waddies of Leith, who gave his life to save a number of his comrades.

Time to rant, a wee bit.

Not sure if I am allowed a bit of a rant today ? 

What's on my mind ?     Well on Saturday  four offices from Police Scotland were doing their bit to foster public relations by operating a speed trap in the 30 MPH bit of the road past Beeslack School,  now this is Saturday afternoon, fairly quiet, wide road which used to be a 40 mph stretch - so I presume they were out "cash generating".  Different state of affairs when you make a phone call on a Friday or Saturday night !!
Yesterday morning I heard one of the radio DJ's having a go at the lunatic fringe of the pedal cycle fraternity,  no lights, dark clothes, jumping lights, etc, and riding on footpaths.   last night I went into the City, frightening to see how stupid some of these cyclists are -  you pass a couple who are properly lit up, lights , reflective hi viz clothing, etc.  Next minute they come at you out the dark no lights, dark clothing,   had two racing each other and there was no way cars could safely pass.  At traffic lights it was onto the pavement, beat the lights and away -   time the Police had a clampdown on them - along with the one eyed motorists in the dark.

Next -  I see another child has been taken from a gypsy family, this time in Ireland as the authorities believe she may have been abducted, just like the child in Greece, so all these rumours about child stealing over the years are most likely very true -  still hope for wee maddie and little Ben.

The Greens and our PC brigade will not be happy till we are not only on our knees in this country, but also sitting in the dark - they should have been considering nuclear energy long before they built all these wind turbines.

Six kids to different fathers, unemployed, single parent, earning £11k in state benefits, yes, someone has got it right - just a pity she got caught buying stolen property - where else but Britain.  No small wonder folks are "fair skunnered" with the system ,  and to cap it  our MP's want another 11% pay rise.

Grangmouth or no more Grangemouth - looks like a big stand off there and the longer it goes on the greater the chance of the place shutting down.   Owners are one of the biggest companies in the world who own plants in Europe which are ten times the size of Grangemouth and operate a hell of a lot more efficiently and cheaper - another tax payers intervention perhaps, till the next time.

Laurie from the Windy City

Things looking up at the Mercat Grill, we have been fully booked for X-mas Day now for the past three weeks, and that was without any advertising  -  and already having a fair bit of interest in our pre-christmas lunches/ dinners.

BUT  more interesting, a lady appeared for lunch today with her friend,  having read about the Grill in a magazine in Chicago ( The Windy City), USA,.  Her friend, who lives locally was really surprised to discover where she was to have lunch, however the experience was good and she will be back.    Out of interest they both met sever years ago whilst on a cruise  ( on the River Clyde!!!) and have been close friends ever since.

 

Safe journey home Laurie.

Sunday's birthday boys.

Well,  here are today's birthday boys, been regulars at the Mercat Grill since they were born, and now celebrating their 1st birthday in style - Prosecco, steak and ale pies, and trying to chat up the young ladies.

A pair of wee stoattars,  and more than welcome whenever they wish to come and see us.

Happy birthday Kimberly and Neil

Happy Birthday to you, Kimberly, 21 again tomorrow, but only just - hopefully she enjoyed her dinner and the marshmallow brownies tonight, and she has a wonderful day with the family and friends.  Apologies as we had sold out of sticky toffee pudding -  young niece will have to come back again and make sure to let us know beforehand.
Once again  the Grill was busy, with the place full, this time many had booked, however there were plenty of walk in's to take up the vacant tables.

Amongst tonight's visitors was a gent who I first met in 1966 when he worked in the NCB transport Depot  at the Moat Pit, Roslin, with one of my (late) friends, George Lindsay.  This chap,  Alan Conner played junior football with our cousin Charlie Corbett and also Davy Pringle who was in the Grill tonight -  great surprise reunion -  which will hopefully lead to further meetings here over the coming months.

Young Mr Briggs was here today with RGB, watching his former team, Penicuik Rugby Club in action over in the Park.   He enjoyed meeting up with his former team mates -  just a pity he is here for such a short time,  however  the prime reason for his visit is to celebrate his brother  Neil's 40th birthday party tonight at Dalkeith Masonic Club.   Congratulations Neil.

Surprise, surprise,

Been quite a surprising day today,  down at the Grill early to set up for the day;
friends arrived for lunch, and unknown to them and us , their son had just flown in from the USA for a surprise birthday party tomorrow - but even more coincidental he did not realise that parents were sitting in our Conservatory dining room,  so he just could not resist taking their starters out to them :-

What a surprise they had, took a few moments for the penny to drop, just a real treat to see,     Briggsy, long time pal of RGB, who went to the USA to work in a summer camp with special needs children, ended up staying there, getting married and now has a good business -  just popped over for his brother's 40th birthday tomorrow.

 

So,  next on the agenda was a surprise birthday party for Elizabeth, organised by her daughter Jackie some time ago.

We had  twenty eight members of the family in for dinner tonight, lovely group and mother, Liz thoroughly enjoyed herself, congratulations on being such a young looking Great Grandmother.  We look forward to having you back for a a meringue in quieter circumstances -  anyway, hope she had a wonderful birthday.

  

and finally,   one of our customers checked his lottery ticket and although he did not have any winning numbers, he DID have one of the winning Raffle numbers - s he and his mate who bought the ticket shared £20,000 -  well done    , £10,000 richer each and out on the town.

Six years old and six years plus one minute

 

This was the happy smile club at the Mercat Grill earlier today,  twin sisters celebrating their birthday accompanied by their older cousin.

Girls were keen to tell me that one twin was much older,  by one minute - the "Big sister".

Nice to see them enjoying their lunch, it is a treat to work there with such nice customers.

 

Bit of  rush to get home as we were heading out to the OES meeting,  heard that we have some meore publicity in the Advertisor, with photos of the Open day.

 

Not sure what is happening in Penicuik tomorrow, no parking permitted on any of the main routes through the town, unless there is a parade by the Army.   Cannot be just because Srewfix are opening a new Depot in Eastfield, wrong part of the town ,  but I must go have a look and see what offers are on.

Theives, theives and posh theives.

Not quite nail biting watching the results of the Scotland - Croatia game coming up on the BBC teletext,  however, with all the modern technology in the house we cannot watch Sky sports without RGB to guide us -  anyway, all being well they will win this game but the result is irrelevant.

So,  the anti terrorist Police made a series of successfully arrests down South, well done,  just puts the Civil Rights folks arguments into perspective -   without our current systems, it is only a matter of time before we are once again in the midst of another terrorist onslaught.

Lots of squeaking and squealing from the Law society with the impending cuts to the legal aid system which costs us as much each year as the rest of the legal system.   Why do we have to pay top notch lawyers to defend terrorists and fraudsters - does that make them accessories if they get off on a technicality!!   Time they were brought to heel.

In our scenic lowlands we have the choice of academic thieves or the usual garbage which steal scrap - so when a well know artist gifts a piece of bronze sculpture,  worth £2 million !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to an estate where it is erected in the middle of nowhere  - bit of a kerfuffle when it is stolen.  Was it stolen to order for a collector or just the actions of wandering tinki / scrappie types -  if so the buyers of the scrap are just as guilty -   last week we had lead stolen from the windows of George Heriots school in Edinburgh -  nothing is sacred,  and it is time these thieving twats had their hands cut off and the folks who buy the scrap shut down.
We had tinki types in at the Grill the other day,  no tax on their van,  and had obviously been out doing crap gardening jobs.    Police were certainly not very interested - down to the DVLA they said.

Where is missing Madeline ?

Watching the latest update of the Madeline McCann abduction story, on Crimewatch UK, very interesting with the metropolitan Police team having done some very thorough work  Just a pity that the Portugese Police did not take the case as seriously as they should have.
We can continue to hope that the child is still alive and well.
Good programme , nice to see the public still wanting to get involved and pass information on to the Police.  Hopefully this will continue to be the case, however, with the way Police Scotland are axing police stations, and with so many officers, from recruits to experienced officers resigning,  Mr Mccaskill had better start a new recruiting campaign soon because his much lauded extra thousand Police on the streets in just a figment of his imagination now.
Personally I do not like the para military uniforms,   there are too few officers actually walking the streets, and not even enough able to respond to urgent calls.  Sorry to say that Mr House's anglified Police Scotland is not quite all it should be. 
Interesting appearance by the head of the National Crime Agency (England)  from his comments it would appear that he does not see the Agency as an integrated part of the Police Force -  sounds like our version of the FBI.

Nearer home construction of the new Waverly rail link from Galashiels to Edinburgh progresses at a good rate.  The  work being done to build the tunnel under the A720 near Sheriffhall is amazing, no wasted time here,  same at the roundabout at Hardengreen where a new bridge is be erected.   Pity this lot were not employed to do the tram line from Gogar - and with the latest news today looks like the trams might be stranded in their depot.  Faults with the concrete cracking in one of the bridges near the Gyle are causing concern -  looks like another faulty batch of concrete - a rushed job once again - not that these blokes were rushing anything - too keen to drag out the job.  But what will be the repercussions -  how many more problems will arise.

Busy in the Mercat Grill tonight with a knockout darts competition taking place - teams of four, and having some good games -  must be one of the smarted darts venue's in the area since it was refurbished.   

Esk 42 Installation.

Made it to Esk 42 this evening where Guy Regnier was installed as MEZ , with Joseph Grant PZ  and Peter Allan as his principal office bearers.
Excellent Degree, full works, due to all the office bearers being present, but worst problem was the cold due to the heating breaking down -  being fixed next week   but in the meantime everyone gets cold  - 
however, hats off to Guy who resides in France and is prepared to travel over every month to attend the meetings and also try and make some of the other meetings within the Province.  Now that is Dedication.

Installed into the chair at No 34

Just home from Crieff where I went to see my friend Kenny Jack installed as PZ of Strathern RA No  34.  A lovely degree carried out by the 1st Principal of the Province of Perthshire -  well done to the degree team and well done to Kenny for taking on this role.   We had planned on a bigger presence from Bonnyrigg however there was a clash with another installation nearer home.

For me it was a swift zoom down the M9 which did not take too long, hopefully avoiding the speed cameras,  whilst Kenny has as long a journey from Crieff to Pitlochry on a very windy road.  Met his long suffering good lady outside,  who will need to be very tolerant for the next couple of years whilst he carries out his new role.

Tomorrow night, Esk 42,  where the new PZ being installed is going to fly in from France each month - dedication.

Mercat Grill was comfortably busy today,  that's all our places filled for x-mas day,  lovely customers, no complaints, makes for a nice working environment.
Nice surprise when my mate Rod McNeill, wife, and parents arrived for lunch -  "glowing" after a visit to Torness power Station.  Rod is the Chairman of the local IPA Committee and has been a wee breath of sunshine since joining the Committee.  Next big group are German Officers coming in on 8th November who are having a Scottish themed dinner at the Mercat Bar, Haymarket, ( Hallelujah -  the tramworks will have gone)  and who are joining the throng at Murryfield to see Scotland in action on the 9th.
One couple took the final spaces on our mas Day list  by booking for a family group of  twenty, and we even had folks looking for places for our pre Christmas lunches -  brilliant.

Just where I left off -

Where did I finish - with an Oops,  well had to go as the staff at the Mercat Bar, minus customers were heading home and tyring to catch their respective last buses before having to wait for the night services to start.   Made my way to the bus station to await our intrepid travellers,  bit of an eye opener, that end of the town was buzzing, lots of folks heading home, probably from the Omni Centre area.
I often comment about cyclists, and in the City, in the dark - there were eejits on two wheels, dark clothing, no lights, ignoring traffic lights, etc.    No sign of Police Scotland officers trying to advise and assist.
On that subject, amazing revelations about the cuts being made around the Country,  long term effect can only mean a loss of respect by the public, a lack of co-operation,  and despite the laundering of crime stats an increase in crime.

I digress, Bus eventually arrived and discharged weary travellers into the pouring rain, some were about five hours later than expected and were then heading direct to work!!!   
Me, I headed home, bed and had another early start at the Grill.

Managed to retrieve the repaired bus, repaired at the toot by the lads at the Edmonston Garage,  thanks.  All set for our pick ups tomorrow night.

Once again, some lovely customers in for lunch,  which makes it all worthwhile - home and off to Mid Calder to a masonic meeting.   Missed out on young Amy's birthday party at the Grill -  but she did have a good evening.

Quiet evening with feet up !!  so all being well I might make it up to Crieff tomorrow night to see Kenny Jack being installed into the RA there -  big question is whether or not I make the run on the motorbike or not.

Great trumpeting over the tram works,  trial runs are starting now -  but far , far too late to save many businesses - however, who cares,  the council lawyers get their wages,  the council employees get their wages,  councillors get their expenses, the tram workers got paid, all had their holidays and most have money in the bank. 

Not a happy ending.

Looks like the ladies Glee club outing to France has ended with a bit of a downer, they did not appreciate just how long they would be cooped up on the coach coming home - so I am now waiting on four very weary and fed up travellers.
Knock on effect being that instead of coming home all refreshed and raring to go they will be shattered for umpteen days.  As they say, seemed like a good idea at the time !!!

Worse for me is that I am now sitting in an empty Mercat Bar, thanks to the tram works which are allegedly being opened up to traffic this coming weekend-  for me , just a wee reminder once again as to how badly the businesses in Edinburgh have been affected by this scheme - there was a time when these bars and restaurants were still busy at 11 p.m. -  just have to wait till next week and if things improve it will be possible then to prove how much was really lost over the five year period of the works.

Mercat Grill looking good, darts team were in great form again,  third win in a row.
Oops  need to go.

Best laid plans of - me in this instance.

Saturday night, had plans for the day bearing in mind that the ladies were off on their travels , chance to make it to the Squaremen,  or a ride out on the K75 with Mr. T.  -  not to be  !!!  Despite the early morning call from Mrs. B. who had not even made it to the channel, plenty to do - then decided to take the bike to work,  just in case Mr. T came out to play.  Turned out to be the wrong play for the day, so to speak.

Mr. T. did appear for lunch with his good lady, but on four wheels, however, as we were so busy at the Grill I had to scoot off and leave them with RGb while I went to collect diners.
  So far so good, place was busy with happy people,  well fed with contented tums, not a "ding ding"  to be heard, nearest being the other premises about four hundred yards away, no frozen haddock, just good wholesome grub.

Onwards,  bit of a detour due to the chaos on the A1 at Milton road, due to the opening of the new store, what a carry on,  dropped off our clients and made to the Granada for fuel -  the disaster struck,  bit of a bang under the seat and all the electrics went "phut", dead as a do do,   Slightly more than a trifle perturbing - an understatement in view of the circumstances -  Long story short - called the RAC and a first class engineer arrived within fifty minutes,  identified the problem - was brutally honest about my options and then towed me to the Edmonstone Garage where my friend Peter will have to resolve the problem.

Nothing is ever simple in life  - a lesson we all learn, and probably more than once in our lifetime.

Missed out on the X Factor tonight but from the comments made by Grant@photogenix, something controversial happened involving Louis Walsh - with Grant switching over to watch either Strictly Come Dancing or the God programme -  won't do him any harm. 

We have a regular early morning caller at the Grill and the Bar,  our Charlie , seen here with his good lady last week at the opening day of the Grill.

 Sadly, although not unexpectedly, his father passed away last Saturday while Charlie was with us - our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family

Busy and Odd week

Another week has sped by - and what do we have to show for it -  more work, however,  the Mercat Grill is looking great, two dining rooms now, the darts team are happy with the compromise.

We can already see a continuing increase in visiting clients - even had a marvellous surprise on Tuesday when the daughter of one of my former colleagues came in, by recommendation of a friend, and that is despite the fact that we discovered her brother in law in one of our "Tuesday Club".  Wonderful, and even better when she met Mrs B who was able to tell her stories about her late father, Davy Hutchison, who worked with me in Penicuik and Bonnyrigg, a long long time ago.


Must make comment, PC or not,  watching this programme about the travelling people,  Big fat Gypsies,  weddings, funerals, etc,    bit much (seriously) glamorising folks who pay no rates, taxes, invade public spaces, depart leaving a midden for the local council to clear up, and whose income is gained under questionable circumstances -  have you ever tried to get a guarantee for a tarmacadam job, a room job, etc ; and where did they dump the garden rubbish they just charged you to take away  ????????????   Probably a lot worse than most of our immigrant population.

Still looking for another motor cycle,  but worse still may be considering a K1100 RT, a year older than mine with only 14000 miles,  pristine condition -   betwixt Devil and deep blue sea-  had a look at a Honda 1000, and a BMW 1200 RT during the week,  in a mucho quandary.

Quiet weekend in store for me at home as "The girls " have departed on a trip to Bruges and Paris,  peace to go to work and do as I please which really just means that I will be at work.

In the wonderful City of Edinburgh, our City Fathers have now informed us that the trams are about to start trial runs,  after five years of shit and disruption, companies going bust, others facing bankruptcy, they are trumpet ting the fact that they works are now completed ahead of the adjusted schedule -  what a load of cobblers,   where in "Cloud Cuckoo Land"  are these folks living??  Sitting there claiming all their allowances whilst the poor suffering business community is having to negotiate  weekly with their bank mangers and various Government agencies.   We will now have to watch out for the trams, complete with "L" plates doing their practise runs.   Spoke to a bus driver today who suggests that it will be impossible for trams and buses to run in Princes Street,  therefor watch for the next move of one way traffic in George street and  Queens Street,  just what will the pedestrian population think of that.

Mr McCallum from Loanhead, jailed this week for indecent assault on two women several years ago,  I recognised immediately -  one of the travelling fraternity, criminal associates, etc.

Attended 720 Bonnyrigg on Tuesday evening, superb Mark Degree overseen by Craig Gordon and worked by a young team,  great evening.

Wee reminder tonight that I have an invite to attend the E Div  Retired Officers Dinner  at the ELCO club on 22nd November.