Dash it, missed the first tram this morning which left the Gyle at 5.30 a.m.and also the ride out for the Hunter and Lass parade this morning.
Couple of very interesting and scathing articles in the papers last night about the tramworks.
Nearly missed the boat, so to speak, as I had an Indian meal last night - (supposed to be a treat) but with my stomach turmoil, it went a bit wrong so a long rumbling night. Hopefully I will be fine by the time I clamber onto my air seat cushion.
One of our customers in the Grill on Thursday night gave me a photo he had spotted of me at work on my Schoolwatch Project in Cockenzie primary School taken in 1989 - I looked a bit younger, had more hair and my shadow was not so large - age catches up with us all.
Sunny Europe here I come, crack open the Chianti.
Saturday, 31 May 2014
Friday, 30 May 2014
What do I do first?
All at sixes and sevens this evening, still got to finish packing the panniers, and like all the rest will have far too much , or maybe not enough !!
Enough incidents buzzing around to justify several blogs - latest appalling news from India where two young girls were found dead by hanging having firtly been gang raped. The Indian authorities still have not got their act together, Police had a terrible attitude towards the incident which was just laughed off by one officer- Hard to believe that Indian males living in the UK have a Western attitude towards such incidents, or do they ?
Big feature in the Edinburgh Evening News about the trams running commercially as of 5 am tomorrow, but there is a recognition that all was not roses and that businesses , including the Mercat Bar had been forced to give up - not a cheep from the Councillors who will puffing out their chests tomorrow.
Spotted a murderer on the loose this morning - about 5.30 am the dawn chorus went into overdrive, as the dreaded black cat appeared - yes, the same cat that ate the budgie - lucky it was not nailed up by the tail.
Wishing GlasgowWarriors all the ebst in their match tomorrow in Dublin.
Both Andy and Jamie Murray doing well in Paris at the tennis - fingers crossed for the two some.
OK - final attempt at getting bike loaded.
Enough incidents buzzing around to justify several blogs - latest appalling news from India where two young girls were found dead by hanging having firtly been gang raped. The Indian authorities still have not got their act together, Police had a terrible attitude towards the incident which was just laughed off by one officer- Hard to believe that Indian males living in the UK have a Western attitude towards such incidents, or do they ?
Big feature in the Edinburgh Evening News about the trams running commercially as of 5 am tomorrow, but there is a recognition that all was not roses and that businesses , including the Mercat Bar had been forced to give up - not a cheep from the Councillors who will puffing out their chests tomorrow.
Spotted a murderer on the loose this morning - about 5.30 am the dawn chorus went into overdrive, as the dreaded black cat appeared - yes, the same cat that ate the budgie - lucky it was not nailed up by the tail.
Wishing GlasgowWarriors all the ebst in their match tomorrow in Dublin.
Both Andy and Jamie Murray doing well in Paris at the tennis - fingers crossed for the two some.
OK - final attempt at getting bike loaded.
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Running out of time
Where does time go - three days till we leave and not a thing packed - everyone wants something done now rather than later - so if I am seen riding south down the A68 to Newcastle docks with items falling from the panniers you know why.
In a bit of a quandary as to whether I take the infamous "Jesus sandals" on holiday, last and latest news we heard from the Alps and Dolomite's is that there was heavy rain at low levels and many of the high passes are closed due to snow. One group we know spent a bit more of their time in front of log fires drinking hot chocolate rather than basking in the sunshine with a beer.
Bloods removed yesterday so have to wait to see how little alcohol there was in the sample!!!
Steed of Steel now issued with a new MOT, earlier than needed, but as it was going to expire while we were away, no point in giving the "Polis" foreign or otherwise an excuse to fine or lock me up. Went to Duns to see Andy Mimms at Border Bikes, so apart from the MOT it had a full safety check, and also had the tyres filled with anti puncture gunge- stops leaks immediately they appear.
Heading back to the ERI shortly, this time for a tube down the throat - what joy (NOT) so obviously hungry and thirsty at the moment - but with luck I may get a bit of a rest for a couple of hours.
In a bit of a quandary as to whether I take the infamous "Jesus sandals" on holiday, last and latest news we heard from the Alps and Dolomite's is that there was heavy rain at low levels and many of the high passes are closed due to snow. One group we know spent a bit more of their time in front of log fires drinking hot chocolate rather than basking in the sunshine with a beer.
Bloods removed yesterday so have to wait to see how little alcohol there was in the sample!!!
Steed of Steel now issued with a new MOT, earlier than needed, but as it was going to expire while we were away, no point in giving the "Polis" foreign or otherwise an excuse to fine or lock me up. Went to Duns to see Andy Mimms at Border Bikes, so apart from the MOT it had a full safety check, and also had the tyres filled with anti puncture gunge- stops leaks immediately they appear.
Heading back to the ERI shortly, this time for a tube down the throat - what joy (NOT) so obviously hungry and thirsty at the moment - but with luck I may get a bit of a rest for a couple of hours.
Monday, 26 May 2014
Counting down.
Count down to ride off on Saturday, still not managed to get started with the packing, nearly as bad as Mr Mac, whose house looks like it has been struck by a tornado - I am sure he will manage eventually.
Not sure if our hosting IPA officers are going to know what had struck them when we arrive - but that is all part of the fun.
Busy weekend at the mercat Grill, despite the cold ( we were lucky to miss the rain on Saturday) and over the weekend some thirty thousand hardy folks took part in the marathon weekend, although having said that, Edinburgh had 22mm of rain yesterday (Sunday), have of May's expected rtainfall in a few hours, which caused chaos, flooding all over the place and a wall fell down in the Zoo so visitors had to be evacuated.
I see that one of the trams, still undergoing test runs before they start properly on 31st, broke down in Princes Street, causing chaos for two and a half hours.
Was working in the Grill today and about to leave, when the darts team arrived home from their long weekend in Benidorm, where they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. however, they had to leave one of the lads behind as he was turned away at the airport and sent to hospital to be rehydrated after over indulging - it will be interesting to hear how much Ryanair charge him to get home now.
Local paper has headline banners about Edinburgh having no football team in the Premier league, first time in 125 years, but what they fail to say is that hearts went down because of administrative and financial default, not because they were beaten regularly.
Hidden headline not made much of, seems that if Scotland have a YES vote we will need at least five hundred thousand young immigants brought into the work force to help balance the ever increasing numbers of elderly people in the Country - not much of a squeak from Mr Salmond there - and he is not saying a lot about his Party being replaced in Brussels by UKIP.
Nice wee run to Duns in the morning to get the Steed of Steel a new MOT and a safety check before we head off.
Not sure if our hosting IPA officers are going to know what had struck them when we arrive - but that is all part of the fun.
Busy weekend at the mercat Grill, despite the cold ( we were lucky to miss the rain on Saturday) and over the weekend some thirty thousand hardy folks took part in the marathon weekend, although having said that, Edinburgh had 22mm of rain yesterday (Sunday), have of May's expected rtainfall in a few hours, which caused chaos, flooding all over the place and a wall fell down in the Zoo so visitors had to be evacuated.
I see that one of the trams, still undergoing test runs before they start properly on 31st, broke down in Princes Street, causing chaos for two and a half hours.
Was working in the Grill today and about to leave, when the darts team arrived home from their long weekend in Benidorm, where they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. however, they had to leave one of the lads behind as he was turned away at the airport and sent to hospital to be rehydrated after over indulging - it will be interesting to hear how much Ryanair charge him to get home now.
Local paper has headline banners about Edinburgh having no football team in the Premier league, first time in 125 years, but what they fail to say is that hearts went down because of administrative and financial default, not because they were beaten regularly.
Hidden headline not made much of, seems that if Scotland have a YES vote we will need at least five hundred thousand young immigants brought into the work force to help balance the ever increasing numbers of elderly people in the Country - not much of a squeak from Mr Salmond there - and he is not saying a lot about his Party being replaced in Brussels by UKIP.
Nice wee run to Duns in the morning to get the Steed of Steel a new MOT and a safety check before we head off.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Back in the real world.
No such thing as R & R now, back to the grindstone once more at the Mercat Grill, lots of wee tasks to keep me occupied, and with the Family fun day on Saturday 24th time is certainly running out.
For those who have not already heard, we have pulled out of the Mercat Bar at West Maitland Street, no surprises there - how were we supposed to survive through all the years of disruption by the tramworks - and despite what the Councillors ( heads stuck up their external orifices) say, we are not alone in having struggled on - but, end of an era at Haymarket, I will miss the customers, many who sent me kind wishes whilst I was in hospital.
Bit of a story line in River City tonight on TV - about corruption within a local authority - now these script writers do not pluck story lines out of thin air - and we have just heard of a massive five thousand house development being approved for the Shawfair wedge - mind you it has been in the planning stage for around twenty years.
Missing my sessions at Castlebrae, so as a reminder have a wee look at two of the facilities:-
, you may note the client in the centre of the photo whose diet was just a bit too drastic!!
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Only ten more sleeps now till I head off with the IPA Motor Cycle group on our tour of Europe making for the IPA - Italian Section rally in the Dolomite's. Still got a few final tasks to complete - in the meantime I am arguing left right and centre with the "lady voice" on my Garmin Zumo 660 sat nav - I was heading into Edinburgh on Tuesday, and for fun set the sat nav - which had be going every which way - I could see my destination but it was trying to send me on another route - I suppose I should really try following the instructions just to see if I do really get to where I was planning.
Just heard a bit of earth shattering news, the Scottish Parliament, currently in the throes of the impending Referendum, are planning on introducing a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags as from October - the net proceeds to go to charity - SNP will not need the funds as they are being well funded by the Euro lottery winners (Reid's)
.
Metal thieves are causing havoc around here, dozens of cast iron manhole covers have been stolen from the local roads - time these so and so's were getting their come uppers. someone must know who is responsible, and the scrap metal dealers buying the stuff are not that stupid not to suspect - just happy to keep coining it in.
For those who have not already heard, we have pulled out of the Mercat Bar at West Maitland Street, no surprises there - how were we supposed to survive through all the years of disruption by the tramworks - and despite what the Councillors ( heads stuck up their external orifices) say, we are not alone in having struggled on - but, end of an era at Haymarket, I will miss the customers, many who sent me kind wishes whilst I was in hospital.
Bit of a story line in River City tonight on TV - about corruption within a local authority - now these script writers do not pluck story lines out of thin air - and we have just heard of a massive five thousand house development being approved for the Shawfair wedge - mind you it has been in the planning stage for around twenty years.
Missing my sessions at Castlebrae, so as a reminder have a wee look at two of the facilities:-
Just heard a bit of earth shattering news, the Scottish Parliament, currently in the throes of the impending Referendum, are planning on introducing a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags as from October - the net proceeds to go to charity - SNP will not need the funds as they are being well funded by the Euro lottery winners (Reid's)
.
Metal thieves are causing havoc around here, dozens of cast iron manhole covers have been stolen from the local roads - time these so and so's were getting their come uppers. someone must know who is responsible, and the scrap metal dealers buying the stuff are not that stupid not to suspect - just happy to keep coining it in.
Sunday, 18 May 2014
Home, but only for thirteen sleeps
Made it home in one piece from the Police Treatment Centre, Castlebrae - fitter, wiser, and certainly more aware of my physical limitations. A valuable week away, well looked after.
Did try and put some pics on the site duringt the week but my wifi access was too slow to support the applications.
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Did try and put some pics on the site duringt the week but my wifi access was too slow to support the applications.
We were a bit unfortunate that the weather was a bit iffy, unlike the south of the UK which was basking in the sun and just setting itself up for the next hose pipe ban.
Took part in the many and diverse activities from Pilate's; stretches; reflexology; fitness; mobility; swimming; and even managed a few rounds on the putting green, although I did play better before the gardener cut the grass !!
Thursday night was fun night, had our usual "bingo" and quiz, followed by the big raffle draw then everyone headed for the "Niblic Bar" for drinks and to join in the karaoke - great night had by all, including yours truly who even managed to get up and lead the communal singing!!!
Friday, the majority of the "clients" left either at the end of their course of treatments, or to go home for the weekend so things calmed down with only six of us remaining for the weekend. This allowed us to to watch rugby, football and even more rugby and football on the various TV sets. Well done Glasgow warriors for their win on Friday night, and St Johnston for the great gave in the Scottish Cup. This meant that Auchterarder was ever so busy on Saturday night with busloads of fans returning to either celebrate or drown their sorrows. Maybe just as well that I was out of sorts and had to take to bed early and therefore missed all the fun.
Home today, nice run down via Glendeavon, and managed to get out in the garden for a bit, whilst Mrs b prepared her first batch of baking for the Mercat Grill - few moans there as they had run out of meringues !! never fear, more on their way.
Only thirteen sleeps before the Italy trip, and plenty to do before then.
Monday, 12 May 2014
Now having a few days away at the PTC (Police treatment Centre), Castlebrae, Auchterarder, Chance to do some exercise, get physio, and just relax a bit. Shame that we are niot having real sunshine as the place is set in lovely grounds - peaceful, and inside has excellent sports and recreational facilites.
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