No snow again, but seriously cold brass monkey weather tonight

The snow came last night , but only about two inches which was nothing really as the buses kept the road open all night and by 7 am the gritters had done their business.  However, I was out at 0715 clearing the snow from the car .    BUT then an hour later on the road and there they were, the eejit fraternity,  jump into the car, on with the wipers, nuff room to see and off they go - headlights masked and a total liability to other road users - and not a Polis in sight to stop and warn them.

Had to take the car to the garage to try and track own an intermittent fault so I was picked up and headed to the Mercat Grill,  my driver was cracking up at me going spare ABOUT THE SNOW COVERED CARS PASSING US, WORSE STILL WERE THE DRIVERS WHO WERE ALSO ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES .

Made it to work and after remembering that Andy Murray was being shown live on "Council TV" sat and watched the last two sets of the match -  excellent tennis - these boys are so fit -  now we have to wait with fingers crossed for the final.

Not sure what president Putin is up to,  two Russian bear bombers intercepted over the English channel today,   in court there is an enquiry going on about the Russian who died after drinking something which had been laced with a radioactive substance -  Mr P, seems unable to give up on some of the dirty tricks he allegedly practiced when he was in their KGB.  He should be trying to get his country back on the straight and narrow again, but there seems to be a inbred acceptance of corruption which is rotting the country.   Many years ago ( 1965) I did a project at College on the mineral wealth of Russia, and to date very little has been exploited other than their oil and gas.
Someone else I knew, a geologist in Edinburgh, used to tell me about mineral deposits off the West coast of Scotland, which once again have still to be exploited.

Very distressing the ongoing gamesmanship being played out by the IS terrorist group using the Jordanian pilot and Japanese citizen to try and free one of their female bombers locked up in Jordan. Now a case and waiting to see if they murder them.

Had an excellent afternoon / evening yesterday at 580 Loanhead/ Lasswade

It was the reinstallation of Ian Wilson as RWM of the Lodge.   Very good attendance who witnessed a first class working by PM Craig Gordon (720) and PM Jim Pryde (10).  Saw pieces of ritual from Craig which I have never witnessed before, superb.  Excellent meal and hospitality, good company, certainly a night to remember and talk about.   I have had an association with the Lodge since the early 70's so it was good to see it doing so well, and more especially to see the members who are also members of the Widow's Sons - Scotland taking office.  The Widow's Sons have a tremendous record for fund raising for many charities , so the stereotype of a "hairy biker" can be misleading.

Bit change of tune today - now a fine day for the ducks !!

BUT  despite this (or to be fair and honest when I was at the Grill first thing the weather was nice, got home and changed) I headed off on my trusty Steed of Steel but the first gantry I saw on the A720 and then the M8 bore warnings of high winds and heavy rain.   Never the less the Steed was like a Duck to water, nae bother at all, apart from the numerous sideways blast which must have caused a few comments from the drivers I was passing as I was sitting at 45 degrees !!!! (not heat but sidyways) and had my old ticker beating a bit faster.

Visited Dougz for a blether and a wee run into Glasgow town, where we visited the ONLY model railway shop in the town,  tiny compared to similar shops in Edinburgh -  might just have rekindled a wee flicker,  need to get a transformer and se if our wee trains still run -  but compared to the new digital trains with sound effects, lights etc, mine are antique.

I see the  next batch of claimants are being lined up to sue Edinburgh City Council,  sixty cyclists who have suffered injuries apparently caused by the tram tracks,  I am sure the lawyers, Thompsons, feel they are on a sure thing here with a potential £500k up for grabs.   If it is the same lawyers as I have had dealings with in the past, do not hold your breath.   Annoying thing is that the Council's lawyers are no better.   
Cyclists -  no lights, dark clothing, ignore traffic lights, ride on pavements, etc - the motorist is always at fault -  now the trams appear to be a potential money spinner  -  if I was riding a bike and knew the tram lines were there what care would I take ?     Might be worth seeing how many claims were made by riders of "Penny Farthings"  against the original tram companies,   who had forty seven miles of track around the city.

Andy Murray, up and running in the Australian Open - wait and see.

Glasgow Rangers FC about to lose their interim manager - wait and see.

Not wishing to be political,   but I do remember Alex Salmond telling us how much money the North Sea oil  was going to be worth to the Scotland -  bit of a glitch at the moment methinks . If we had gone down the YES road I think there would have been a bit of serious head scratching going on. Perhaps "up s**t creek without a paddle" would be an appropriate comment.

Never mind, a few weeks time it will be back to the "Holiday Village Coral Sea Resort" for a bit of R & R.

Few ups and downs, still not 100%

BUT -  after two months of serious inactivity, and lots of sleeps - decided to get off my butt and get back to swimming again  - wee bit at a time, but needs must.  

Just popped through my mind,  "The sun has got it's hat on" -  yes, lovely today in the sun out the wind - but with the temperature at  0 C and +2 C  still not shirt sleeve weather or deckchairs.  However, as far as we are concerned here in Penicuik,  certainly not the worst we have had.

BACK to one of my previous "topics"  cold calling -   time something was really done about these torags in the call centres.  Now we are getting automated calls during the evenings and also during the weekends, Sunday included -  too much,   even getting calls saying they are surveys rather than selling things.    Me - if I want something I will research the subject and then make my calls - I DO NOT WANT TO BUY ON SPECK.

Took myself to Loanhead lodge last Thursday, and will be at their Installation this Saturday coming,  at 720 tonight and off to the OES tomorrow.  just to keep me out of mischief.

RGB  home today after a week away with David P.to Tenerife which was a birthday present for his 40th - .

Grill looking good,  our painter Malcolm, has been in so we are slowly getting things put to right,  even the new blinds on the front windows and the glass etchings do the business.

Might get a visit from Tom McInally tomorrow, before he ups and heads for France.

Been a few days of minor mishaps, or is it just a few senior moments

Started with the loss of an old faithful fountain pen which I have used most days for years,   then yesterday while attending the funeral of the late Sgt Bill Archibald, from Musselburgh, I appear to have lost a new pair of specs ;  probably flattened at the side of the road outside Seafield crematorium.  Obviously a sad event but nice to meet Valerie, her family, and several of my former colleagues, Andrew Stewart; Alex Elgin; Dick Long; Stuart Mackay; Jim Rutherford;  Peter Ritchie (now author of three mystery novels), Ian Wright and Cyril Cleeton.

Weather is totally unpredictable, snow one day, wind the next, mild and then bitter freezing, and with the VW Golf still playing silly works not very clever for driving when roads are bad.    

Heading for the Mercat Grill this morning came on another accident on the Pomathorn - Fallhills road, at exactly the same spot as last weeks accident,  this time an Audi ended up the embankment totally wrecked with police in attendance  -  same cause as last week, ice on the bend and road not gritted.

Must say that after months of harassing the staff at Booker Cash and Carry, Musselburgh,  I actually managed to get there in time to get a bacon roll -  well done - staff are no longer waiting on their P45's !!!

Nice to make contact with Kiera Murphy, comedienne again, shame we are not having a Burn's supper at the Mercat Grill as she does a great "Reply from the lassies", but look forward to seeing her on TV.

I see the NHS are taking an undeserved beating in the media,  nice new Victoria Building at the Western General, but poor lady appears to decided to light up a fag while on oxygen thus causing a fire - so much for banning smoking on and within NHS properties.  Everyone is warned about the dangers of smoking near oxygen supplies;   However, worse than that I remember back to the days when we were all warned about smoking near gas supplies,  and there was a poor old soul in Penicuik, who left her gas cooker on without lighting it,   sparked up a ciggy and blew herself out the front window and survived!!!.

Taxi drivers in Edinburgh have already indicated that the new 20 MPH speed limits in the City will make it necessary for them to increase their fares once again- and again - and again-  pirates of the road right enough.

Seriously worried with the gale force winds this morning

Thought the roof was coming off the conservatory at the Grill - kind of wild - "squally"  being more than apt.  But if we have another few days of this, there will be even more damage to contend with.

Very mind provoking documentary on the TV tonight about the radicalisation of Muslims leading to the cases of extreme violence and also the recruitment of young Muslims by the IS group.   Quite worrying about the potential for increased terrorist acts around the World and within the UK - if we need something to concentrate the mind now is the time.
Once again we see an example of how stupid the UK is being made to look, we have the wife of a terrorist out on appeal, receiving legal aid, free housing and all the benefits she is allegedly entitled to - and we cannot boot her out for fear of breaching her "Human Rights" - nuff said - what eejit got us into this nonsense.

Of TV programmes there was the launch of STV's new Edinburgh Channel,  great excitement, however it was a serious let down, for me anyway,  so it will not be on my list of favourites.

Great debate in tonight's Edinburgh Evening News  about the proposal for a blanket 20mph speed limit within the City - general opinion is that the majority of the public are NOT in favour of it, that it will cause more problems because of tail gaiting, road rage, more congestion,  give the Police yet another opportunity to target motorists and rack up more fines (and of course in the annual report - solve crimes) - traffic.  Bit of a coincidence that it is the same "brain's trust"  as pushed through the tram project.    AND no way is a traffic calming programme going to force folks to use the (relief No 22 bus - tram).          Might even cost the City more in damage compensation.

Need to surface some time, cannot hide under the duvet any more.

Weather is ever so slightly iffy, between rain wind and snow it was good to get a couple of hours extra in bed.  However I had it in mind to walk down the street for newspapers, so I wrapped up well and had a walk in a blizzard, and made it home just in time for the weather to clear.  BUT the forecast is not good, just need to grin and bear it.

Missed out on the Squaremen yesterday,  but ended up at the party night at the Mercat Grill,  good turnout, nice curry buffet, music and entertainment was by East Coast FM who broadcast a show live from the premises.  Good job they have alcohol free beer, this new drink driving law is certainly having an effect.

Seriously cracking up with Windows 8,    having to use a Web Book which took ages to catch up with missed downloads.    New PC is looking for a proxy (or poxy) server - which is gobbledygook to me.

Need to lie down in a darkened room I think.

Within the lull the Steed took to the road, high viz rider and all.

Gales last night were awful, woke up, then buried head beneath blankets, wishing that I could do an impression of a grizzly bear and wake up when the sun was shining again.   However,  wind had managed to blow down part of my rear fence which was fixed during the lull.

Never mind, I decided to turn over the Steed,  but with no wind, mild temp, I climbed into my shiny new high viz suit which makes me stand out somewhat !!!   and took the beloved Steed out for a run,  had the tyres checked, topped up tank with supper unleaded, plus a doze of Redex to clean out the rubbish.  writing this I have a wee flash back to when you went to the garage and an attendant topped up the tank,  but also had big Redex container and you could have a shot or a couple of shots added to the tank.

This thinking has come about due to the current problems with the VW Golf, and it would appear that many problems with modern cars are caused by the cheap fuel being supplied by the major supermarkets who buy mega cheap fuel at the spot market in Amsterdam.   The answer would appear to be to top up alternate tank fulls with good quality branded makes and use an additive two to three times a year.    Wyze one has spoken,

More seriously, looks like the terrorists in Paris have been dealt with,  but at what expense, several deaths plus more Police.   Interesting to see the connection with Abu Hanza, the iron handed preacher who has just been locked up and key thrown away in the USA - no messing there.   Time we severed our ties with the European Human Rights legislation and let our own Courts act the way they should be -   I wonder what would happen if one of these terrorist groups were to target the numpties in Brussels !!!

Edinburgh City Council, maybe have their printing unit knocking out" free passes for life"  for those 1200 council workers about to be made redundant as the Council makes yet another round of cuts.  New years Honour for Chief Exec Sue ; ( who also has a part time job);  Lesley Hinds ( famous for her comment about the "Glitch in the tramworks" now responsible for the state of the roads in the city - with a new 20mph limit proposed -  we will soon all be on bicycles, or even back to horse and traps.
bet the peripheral shopping centres are rubbing their hands.  Apart from increased parking charges in the City, might end up with parking meters in these areas also + the 5p plastic bag charge.   ( Had to buy a bag at M& S today - shocking).

Party night at the  Mercat Grill, Whitecraig,  Saturday night, big thank you to our regular customers.

Paris - Bloody horrendous - and where will they strike next.

Terrible events unfolded today in Paris with the shooting of twelve people, ten journalists and two police bodyguards, by Arab gunmen who claimed to have carried out the attack in the name of Islam. Our thoughts are with the families of those who were so brutally murdered at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices.

Paris today, where tomorrow?  as I have said before - no one can afford to drop their guard, take heed of the Scottish Police  moto,  "Forever vigilant".

At home we are under siege,  but this time by cold callers, nothing is sacred any more,  Sunday night a call;  9pm this evening , a call; and this morning an automated call at 0830 to a business premises.  Time this was practice was made a criminal offence.

Heading home tonight, chaos on the roads south of Edinburgh -  roads works have recommenced after the workies have had time to recover from the  X-mas and New Year break and start their obstructive road works.   Made worse for me as there was a serious accident on the A702 and diverted traffic got bunged up in the road works and caused massive tail backs.

Continuing saga of the sick VW,  my mechanic friend arrived tonight in shocking weather conditions, jumped in the car, turned over the engine, and it started first time !!!!!    Diagnostics  showed a minor fault,  however, it ran like a sweetie when taken for a run -  bit of head scratching as to why it would not go for me or the RAC man,   just need to see what happens tomorrow.

Bit chilly today for working outside - took its toll

So I ended up having a bit of a snooze this afternoon to get warmed up.     However, more seriously the Golf, has taken ill,  would not start this morning.  Called the RAC who, even with diagnostic computer could find no fault with the engine management.  Bit of a conundrum to say the least!!

Topical - I see Chris Commons of Celtic has his agent discussing his new contract with Celtic FC - as I have said before, these overpaid prima donnas, should get the boot.    Time these so and so's were sorted out, throughout the World.     

Major problems in the Health Service,  claimed to be due to the winter,  with queues waiting to be treated, etc.    One spokesperson got it right on the news when he said that people these days were not prepared to wait any more - so no waiting for Dr's surgeries, just tipping up with petty minor injuries and wasting the time of valuable nursing resources.
From personal experience I know that hospitals are literally waiting for ward beds to be vacated so that new patients can be admitted, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is a classic case having been built to accommodate fewer patients than the original ERI which it replaced.

One suggestion being, that injuries which are drink related, the "patient" be charged for the use / abuse of the NHS.
But it does raise the issue of accessibility to alcohol,  pubs have a control over their customers,  however, supermarkets and the like have a vested interest in flogging cheap booze -  perhaps they have a hidden agenda and have been lobbying for the lower drink driving limit, which is already having an effect on out of town bars and restaurants.   Worth pondering.

Came across an accident today - bad ice on road.

I was heading home from the Grill and on the back road between Fallhills Cross Roads and Pomathorn Cross roads, just outside Penicuik, went into a bend where the road was solid ice -.  Just beyond the bend there was a car buried in a tree on the east side of the road, and the driver, who was uninjured was at the side of the road with her parents.     Road was in the deep shade so the ice was solid due to seeing no sun at all.
Was hoping to add a photo but Windows 8 has me defeated.

I did not realise yesterday that Andy Murray won his trophy by default as Jockovich could not play due to an injury - apologies.

Looks like the sea is certainly not the safest place to be at the moment -  one cargo ship upside down with all crew missing off the North coast of Scotland;  a car transporter / ferry, stranded on a sandbank off the south coast;  Greek ferry burnt out last few days and people missing; and a boatload of illegal immigrants being recued by the Italians after being abandoned by people traffickers.

Shame for the Warrior - well done the Gunners

Spoke a bit too soon last night when I suggested that Edinburgh would struggle with a ten point deficit,  however, a great game, plenty action and Edinburgh came up trumps, with an overall two point lead to win the 1872 cup,

Even Andy Murray did the business with a win over Jokovick to take his first trophy of the year.

After a couple of days with mild temperatures the mercury has plummeted and it is central heating turned up and early to bed again.

Worrying to hear that the nurse infected with Ebola is now critically ill, took a bad turn,  must wish her well -  on the other hand a patient in Italy in a similar condition has now fully recovered.

At some point I might just learn how this Windows 8 works, and maybe get a photo back on the blog. Otherwise it will be a case of using my older lap top.

It is either escapism, or just how sad is this

Came home from work today, tired after a restless night, so sat quietly and scanning the TV channels opted for The Sound of Music,  which I first saw in a cinema in Newcastle in 1965.   Just a nice quiet way to spend the afternoon, and Julie Andrews  as good as ever to watch.   Followed this up with the master detective , Columbo,  enough said.      Bad enough being criticised for my comments yesterday about Rentagob - along the lines that Words will never hurt you.

Weather changed again, lot colder and much windier -  must have been frightening for those on the wee plane which was blown off the runway in Stornoway.

Headed for Costco today but it was closed,  on the other hand there were queues of cars trying to get into Ikea - somewhere to let the kids run riot - and get cheap meatballs.

Rugby tonight, Glasgow  v Edinburgh, but with a ten point deficit,  big lead to catch up with.
Andy Murray into his first finals of 2015;  and new team at the top of the SPL, Aberdeen,  but Celtic have a game in hand,  keeps that league tight.

Early to bed - might not make me any wiser.

2015 - What a bloody start to the year

In China some crackpot, as a joke launches bundles of false cash into a crowd,  end result - thirty plus dead and numerous injured.   Investigators have found the remains of the crashed Air Asia plane with entire passenger list and crew dead.

At home we have a nurse who went to assist with the Ebola crisis  in Sierra Leon,  returned home as a carrier, now seriously ill.   BUT not prepared to accept the seriousness of the situation and the possibility of an outbreak in the UK -  RENTAGOB - Katie Hopkins has made a huge racially slurred joke against the Scots, relative to the incident.    Last week I commented about the sick comments made regarding the Glasgow bin lorry incident -  IS IT NOT TIME WE, (AS RESPECTABLE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY) STOOD UP AND ASKED THE AUTHORITIES TO CLAMP DOWN ON THESE "EEJITS").    
Fair enough at times for the odd bit of slagging off , but when we are now talking about both sad and serious events, lets show a bit of respect!!!  Or stand up and be counted.