The sun shines on the righteous

Or so they say, not that I am all that righteous, so it must be the case, if the sun is shining, that I am somewhere sunny - like Egypt !!!








So we left the cool, because it is not freezing at the moment, climate of Scotland and headed sort of South a bit to Sharm El Sheik, Egypt. Very little choice at the moment with flights so we were stuck with a THOMSON charter out of Glasgow, as usual a bit cramped to the usual commercial airlines, however, needs must and as we wanted the sun = beggears cannot be choosers.



Out of Glasgow at the crack of dawn and soon we were in the sun - marvellous . On arrival we were met by Reps from our Company, Classic Holidays, who escorted us through the airport and had us on a mini coach for the hotel, the Hilton Waterfalls, Sharm

Had a bit of a problem there as the Internet dropped off half way through the last attempt at the blog.
But , to summarise, as we are now in the bar, Sunday night, sun down - the staff are very nice, Maria in Customer services is looking after us - the waiters, pool boys, Spa Staff, everyone is very hepful , if your request is practicable and reasonable they will do their best to help.
We have all had massages, excellent, bars are fine, place is spotless - very scenic and on the side of a hill so thge little funicular lift is a boon (for old lazy blokes like me).

Sun has been shining and tonight we are off to Verdi's Bistro, within the hotel.

The pool boy, Rameses ll ( or I have suggested if he is bad Rameses the last) very photogenic.
More news to follow

Had enough, packed my bags, need to find a plane.

Or boat, or train, so watch this space and see where I end up - might be a break in the blog for a couple of days till I get sorted somewhere.

Thought (wrongly) that having seen the Surgeon last week and been told that he needed to see me again soon , I thought (again) that it might be prudent to speak to the appointment folks and make sure there would be no clash - Ho Ho Ho - (holding tummy and doing Santa Clause impression) - what a hoot - when the lady said that the earliest appointment would be in May 2012 !!!!!!!!!!!!

Extreme expletives - and I suggested that it was hardly worth it as I could either be six feet under ; or have had my ashes scattered over the local farmland - looks like the NHS appointment pledges are just a serious load of waffle.

Had planned on a quiet day, however I had a call regarding a theft from one of my clients - so out and about and even found someone who had shown great initiative and had written down the Registration Number of a vehicle acting suspiciously - and low and behold - the police were very interested - so hopefully someone might end up in handcuffs !!!!

This sort of leads into a comment on last nights little expose on the TV of the scrap metal thieves who are causing chaos around the UK ripping up cable, stealing road signs, manhole covers, etc, just rotten thieving gits - and I am pleased that there is going to be a really serious purge against them and the scrap metal dealers. Should do the same with these so called "scrap gold" dealers / conmen.

Moral / or message of the story is - if you see something suspicious, note it down and report it to the Police, you never know how useful it might be - and apart from that if you do not report things, no one can do anything about them.

I see that 88% of people spoken to in a recent poll would would be prepared to pack up their bags and emigrate - not just for the weather, the way things are going it might be the only chance to find somewhere to live where English is a common language. With the news tonight of the financial crisis in Italy - wont be going there to live, and the ridiculous thing is that we, along with the rest of the so called Eurozone are in danger of getting dragged down.

1995 Masonic memoribilia - a blast from the past,

So there I was in the Dolphin Inn today when Tom Crystal, PM, Lodge St John Fisherrow, 112 - dropped in for lunch with his wife and sister in law. Tom and his beloved had been in Lewis / Barra with us a couple of months ago. He brought me an old photo album dating back to 1955 while he was in the Chair at No. 112 - and there in the midst was photo of Walker Stevens and Robert Hooker who I was with last week, and having a cheeky wee look, the late Duncan Mackay of Dalhousie 720 - both Duncan and Robert, respected musicians playing the piano and the organ - Robert being the current organist for Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, and plays wherever he attends if invited

The float in the picture was decorated by Tom himself who was a sign writer to trade and took part in the Musselburgh Honest Lad and Lass Celebrations - 1995.

Has no one here the GUTS to say what needs saying?

Political Correctness here gone mad when we can no longer show Patriotism the way we should or did - The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Goddard caused more than a ripple in the pond when she announced that anyone not wishing to live by the laws, beliefs and integrate into Australian society should pack their bags and go home !! Good on her for saying what the people of her Country believe in - learn English and integrate, accept that they believe in God as they are Christians; and they live by the laws of the land not a Foreign nation or culture , ie Islamic Sharia Law.

I PRESUME THAT IN THE INTERESTS OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS NO ONE IN WESTMINSTER OR HOLLYROOD WANTS TO OPEN THEIR MOUTH.

Here in the UK we have become the laughing stock of the rest of the World - our Border Agency was told to ignore the rules, take shortcuts and open the gates because they could not cope - NOT GOOD ENOUGH - next time there is a major security issue in the UK, perhaps they will take heed / mind you ,for years we (in the security trade) have said that it will take another major incident to concentrate the mind.

We had an illegal immigrant who had committed a series of offences, he was locked up, but it was ruled that he had been detained longer than legal while his situation was assess - so he gets financial compensation - NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Join the local gym and you can stay for ever !!!

Europe c/0 the MEP (Muppets of European Parliament) are going to penalise the UK because we are trying to restrict immigration - we should shut down the Brussels joke factory and use the money we pay them every year for local projects.

Sideline - the boy band JLS are releasing their sixth album since they made it famous, sales so far - 5,000,000. SUSAN BOYLE - two albums, sales 14,000,000 - no contest - nuff said.

So you want a house here - either get pregnant while unemployed and get flung out by your parents / partner - nae bother ; asylum seeker - nae bother.
BUT - work all your days, lose your business through no fault of your own, struggle on with a new job but poor wages which do not allow you to break even or pay your debts - NO ONE WANTS TO KNOW OR HELP - sorry, go to the back of the queue.

In the meantime, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer - thanks to the greed of the financial institutions; the waste and incompetence of our Politicians (look at Edinburgh Council for example) -

FIFA - the football lot, have banned the English team from wearing Poppies on their strips when playing against Spain !!! WHY ?? NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Birds Eye view - pre trams - one to watch

I have had a few pictures in the system, firstly taken from high up looking westwards along Shandwick Place, into West Maitland Street (home of the Mercat Bar) and Haymarket Station - this is the route of the proposed tram line into the City, already been dug up and the scene of much chaos during the past four years.

The metal giraffes are erected on the pavement outside the Omni Centre, Glasshouse Hotel, and Playhouse Theatre, at York Place, much admired.

The plaque I spotted above the door of the Abbey Inn, Newtongrange, dating the building to 1874 and the previous building owned by the Laird of Newtongrange to 1664 - however I have not delved into that story yet.

On the other hand, a few days ago I visited and showed photographs of West Linton, ( with its plaques dating back to 1660) - one of the streets shown is known as "Mowbrays Slap" and I was at a loss as to why it should be called this - had someone called Mowbray been slapped or given someone a slap ?? However, a "slap" is also an old Scottish word for a gap in a fence, hedge, wall, etc, so it could be that a local called Mowbray used this as a shortcut and it eventually through usage became a narrow lane - maybe !!

There is a re-run of the Susan Boyle documentary- "An Unlikely Superstar" on the TV at the moment, and as I stated previously, a really remarkable person indeed - There is one wee bit where she is squeezing between a van and a motorcycle to get into the London recording studio - Question - can you see some of today's Diva's putting up with that wihout taking a petulant tantrum - ( I use the word "petulant" as it was also used today in the Sunday Mail following Greg Wylde of Rangers kick at Willo Flood getting him a red card - ((eejit)).

Back to SuBo - there is a far greater chance of me buying her next Album - "Someone to Watch Over Me" which is due for release this coming Monday, than some of the other rubbish being punted out into the X-mas market place. Nearly as big a waste of our hard earned pennies as last nights fireworks - money up in smoke.

Masonic Installations - choices are three fold.

Congratulations to Tom Hendry and his team of Office bearers following their Installation into Office at Lodge Newbattle St.Mary, No 1063, Newtongrange, yesterday.

His grand daughters might be able to see him in his "Kings Coat" .

A well worked degree by the Installing masters James Douglas and George Lillie, both Past Masters of 1063.

There was a good turn out from the Lodge and of Visitors from throughout the Province - I had to leave before the speeches but I am sure that those who remained had a great night.

On my way home, I met Alex Mooney, Provincial Grand Superintendent of the Provincial Grand Chapter of Midlothian - who along with Robert Peel, Simon Fairly and others had been to The Annual Installation of the R A Chapter at Colinton and Currie (one of the other two events I should have been at). A small but dedicated band of Companions all had a great afternoon. The other event I was unable to attend was the Regular meeting of the Order of the Squaremen held in the Edinburgh Masonic Club, Shrubhill, - need to wait on Sparky Mark reporting in to see how things went.

The marvellous Susan Boyle.

Sunday morning, crisp and clear, car covered in a hard frost, however if it turns out like yesterday we will have another nice day. Max temp here 7 C , Sharm el Sheik 28 C - I know where I would rather be.

Friday night I was enthralled sitting watching the TV documentary about Susan Boyle, our home grown singer from Blackburn, West Lothian. What a remarkable story and what a wonderful singer, the majority of our current so called celebrities should pay attention to her and take a lesson in humility and humanity. It is so nice to see here developing, and being given the respect she should have had years ago - Her interactions with fans is marvellous - good on her and I hope she has many happy years ahead of her.

Big change - watching the current batch of "diddies" , and that includes at least three of the judges on the X- Factor - no wonder Simon Cowell is doing his nut, and rating are plummeting - however, it proves the point that he was the key point in the show and panel - his USA X-Factor, for what I have seen looks to be a much better show - so it will be back to Strictly Come Dancing for me tonight.

More later.