Tenerife

Flights from Exeter leave on Tuesdays and Fridays - £207 and £251 respectively with Thomas Cook/Airtours.

Friday in Lumphanan

Ross and I went out to look at the property he had seen on ASPC. It's a very small house - technically 2 bedrooms but you wouldn't really want to share - better if one of the bedrooms could have its double bed removed and converted in to a study/computer room.

It's very tidy, though - all the gear is brand new - apparently a woman bought it for her son to live in but he then moved in with his girlfriend! This would be the first rental. The lounge is tiny and shares space with the kitchen, which is the highlight of the house:

Aberdein Considine are going to manage the property, so if anything goes wrong, you just contact them - the downside is that there will be inspections of the property! Also, strictly no smoking or dogs - is this enough to put Ross off? - don't know - he says he wants to stop smoking anyway. Watch this space for further developments - short video tour to follow in next few days.

What else is new? Well, Carole and Luca have just arrived - no Gary yet - they're staying over and then we leave from here in the morning to drive down to Old Trafford. Jo's babysitting and she's not too worried about Luca but Isis is causing some concern - particularly when she has to go to church on Sunday. Still, I did it once before and coped so I'm sure Jo will manage somehow.

Today's list - favourite Corrie characters, past and present - Jack and Vera of course; Reg and Maureen; Roy and Hayley - well Roy anyway; Raquel - they're the ones that come to mind. Tomorrow it might be least favourites - most probably led by whiner Gail.

Thursday evening

Spoke to Ross about his plans to move out - he asked me to go with him to look at the flat in Lumphanan - he's made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. He actually took a trip up there this afternoon but couldn't find it! I'll get Tom-Tom out tomorrow!

Ross has done his sums OK and feels he could manage - but it would be tight on his own - better if he could share with somebody - or find a smaller place.

Played footy last night so I'm sore today - but I'll get over it!

Checked flights to Tenerife on http://www.flyglobespan.com/ and they're coming in at about £220 per head, including taxes. Flights are on a Friday - and my birthday happens to also fall on a Friday. I was hoping to go there fairly near my birthday if that was OK with everyone? I'll need some sunshine by then!

What about logistics for Kelly/Craig - where would they fly from and to? What about Scott and Lucy - would they come to Aberdeen first of all then just travel down and back with us?

Nothing much else happening - although I did receive our plane tickets for our flights to Florida - just over 2 weeks to go - and we're there during election week!

Gary mentioned Ross' haircuts - here's one from 1999, when he was in Israel with the school:

and here's his Mum from the same year - still sporting the dark look:

I could reveal more - perhaps later - anyone want to buy me off before I publish any more?

A list for today? Houses I've lived in:

? Dumbarton Road, Whiteinch, Glasgow - 1949-1952

19 Landseer Court, Corby - 1952-1959

Cochrane Castle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire - 1959-1960

46 Foxbar Drive, Glasgow - 1960-1972

1 Barcaldine Avenue, Chryston, Lanarkshire - 1972-1974

44 Caldecot Way, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire - 1974-1979

7 Cherry Tree Loan, Balerno, Midlothian - 1979-1983

4 Arbor Court, Banchory, Aberdeenshire - 1983-present

Can't decide what tomorrow's list will be - phone numbers or postal codes of all these houses - which would you like? Vote now!

Wednesday (again!)

Ross dropped a bombshell to Jo yesterday - he wants to move out. What's not to like about free board and lodgings, meals cooked for you and all your cleaning, washing and ironing done for you? - a lot it seems - I haven't spoken to him about it yet - he was too busy gaming last night - but we're going to Manchester this weekend so I'll get a chance to talk to him (or more probably, listen to him!) properly then.

Ross has seen a 2 bedroom place out in Lumphanan going for about £525 per month. It would take about 20-25 minutes to get to work in summer, but longer in winter - and no going home for lunch. If he were to share it - with possibly Thomas - he could maybe manage, but it'll be tight on his own. Council tax, fuel and food alone would probably more than double his outgoings - and then there's his road tax and car insurance, plus the cost of replacing the car when it eventually dies - maybe next year? Doesn't leave much for the "toys" he likes to keep buying.

Jo was a bit down at the prospect - I think she was quite enjoying looking after him again - and the two of them always did enjoy a natter. She's also still a bit concerned after her visit to the doctor on Monday and the follow-ups she's now got to do. Her chest and back pains are becoming more prevalent - but hopefully it's auto-suggestion only.

I went back to Bannatyne's yesterday - my first visit for a while - in fact, I was there twice just after we came back from vacation, but hadn't been back since then - until yesterday. I went through the usual routine, but cut down the time/effort or weights to make sure I could cope OK. I don't feel too bad today so it must have helped. Now, it's indoor footy again tonight - that'll hurt a lot more!

I sat down to catch up with part 2 of the History of the Guitar last night - I missed part 1. I found it a fascinating history lesson - Jo sat through it as well and had the good grace not to comment until the very end when the sight of Hendrix playing Wild Thing was just too much for her and she went off on one - you know, the usual rant about dentist's drills etc.

Most of the documentary was historical - it opened with the apocryphal story about Robert Johnson going to the Crossroads and selling his soul to the devil in exchange for becoming a great blues artist. Kelly will remember Cream's more recent version of the old song - "I went down to the crossroads, fell down to my knees....". The film showed where this allegedly happened - at Clarksdale, Mississippi - they sell t-shirts to the tourist nowadays, but Wikipedia casts doubt on whether the junction here of Highways 49 and 61 is correct, or whether it should have been at Rosedale at the junction of Highways 1 & 8.

The film went on to talk about the Mojo triangle of music - New Orleans/Memphis/Nashville. This struck a chord with me - it's definitely on my wish list to hire a winnebago and tour round the music hot-spots of the Deep South, and then perhaps up to Chicago and head west along Route 66. We went to Memphis when Lucy was first moved over - but it was only for a day, and Beale St isn't the same in daylight.

What about a list? Actors? De Niro, of course - brilliant - and funny when he wants to be. Meet the Fokkers might make it in to my top 20 films. Hoffman as well - apart from the Graduate and Midnight Cowboy, Rain Man was terrific. And then there's Newman - Butch and Sundance in particular.

Quick blog response

To Jo - it was Ross and I who screwed the TV together - it was a health hazard, just sitting there balancing on the stand. I then plugged it in and put the aerial in as well - but no picture - is that aerial point dead?

To Gary - good video of Luca - but could you please add more light to them? The black background on your blog doesn't help, of course.

To Lucy (and Scott) - come on, update your blog!

To Jo again - nice to see photos added - you can separate them and centre them, if you like - and you can also intersperse them with text. Videos next?

To Kelly - did you manage to get your work laptop connected to your home network?

To everyone - I did some trawling last night and spotted a couple of potential villas in Tenerife - http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/los-cristianos/42792 and http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/costa-adeje-golf/48931. What do you think?

Lastly, I agree with Gary that Crash was good - maybe not top 10, but OK. I also agree Schindler's List, worthy though it was, was pretty dull viewing. Of course, the Indiana Jones series was good fun as well - and I also always enjoyed the Sound of Music, believe it or not. We all enjoyed Grease for a while until Lucy sickened us all with the album!

Another week starts .....

Our emergency meeting with the Bank in Dundee went OK this morning. Nothing was actually agreed but more time has been bought, which may allow us to consider changing banks. Frankly, virtually all the banks are a mess just now and all their employees are looking over their shoulders, primarily concerned about their own careers - naturally.

I've been offered the tickets for Old Trafford again this Saturday and so I've asked Gary and Ross to join me - plus Carole! Just waiting for Gary to phone Jo to ask her to babysit Luca.

I received our team shirts for our golf trip to Florida - just 3 weeks today! Here's what they looked like in the catalogue (citrus and black):

and here's what the real thing looks like - it's a rather grainy photo and I don't know if you can see the difference - but it's almost green - I'm going to get pelters from the boys!

Jo finally went to see the Doctor today - she was concerned about pains in her chest and memories of her Dad flooding back didn't help. The GP said she seemed OK but is sending her for tests, including bloods and a stress ECG.

Skyped Lucy last night and spoke to Kelly on the phone tonight (technical advice!) - everyone seems to be up for the 60/30 holiday next year, so I guess I need to get cracking now!

Jo and I watched Parenthood again last night - what a hoot! I think it's one of the funniest films ever - I couldn't stop laughing out loud. Which leads me neatly on to today's list - best films ever? Parenthood obviously - and also Father of the Bride - both Steve Martins - but I guess they probably appeal more to people of our vintage who've been through it all. The Graduate, yes and probably most of the Godfather trilogy, but beyond that, I'm struggling to remember significant films other than more recent ones like the Edith Piaf and Johnny Cash biopics and The Counterfeiters. Needs more thought obviously.

Sunday at home

Oh dear, Jo - "tawdies" and "whiskey" - I think not. We certainly don't have any of the Irish spirit in our house and hopefully Craig and Kelly also have only Scotch whisky in theirs - and maybe they might enjoy their toddies - but who said I was pedantic?



Last night, Jo, Ross and I watched a great movie - The Counterfeiters - a German film with subtitles about the "privileged" Jews kept in a concentration camp to make forged notes. It's a true story and it was the Nazis attempt to undermine the UK economy by printing millions of Sterling notes - they almost succeeded, but fortunately, they didn't manage to repeat the exercise with the US dollars. Doesn't sound scintillating, but catch it if you can - it was absorbing.



Another pleasant autumn day here - and I enjoyed my golf at Torphins this morning - check the golf blog (http://bsvgolf.blogspot.com/) for a photo.



I found the cable for the old camera so it's over to Jo now to colour her blog and enlighten us all with the things she does and places she goes.

Lovely smell coming from the kitchen just now - Jo's busy in there - she's going out for a walk with Anne in half an hour.

I'm off to Dundee in the morning - I've called for an urgent face to face meeting with our bankers after a call I received from them on Thursday. Our contact at the Bank of Scotland is under huge pressure from his bosses to immediately increase the rates they charge us by 50%. The crisis in the world financial sector is huge and wide ranging.

I neglected to add a list to yesterday's blog posting - so, back to music again. I'd previously mentioned the list of almost 100 favourite individual tracks (not albums) that I made up a few years ago - it consisted of 60 separate artistes:

Animals
Beach Boys
Beatles
Bob Dylan
Buddy Holly & the Crickets
Canned Heat
Clash
Cream
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dandy Warhols
Eddie Cochran
Elvis Costello
Eric Burdon & the Animals
Faces
Fleetwood Mac
Four Tops
Free
Graham Parker & The Rumour
Jack Bruce
Jam
James Taylor
Jethro Tull
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Joe Cocker
Joe Jackson
John Lennon
Judy Clay & William Bell
Kingsmen
Kinks
Led Zeppelin
Lou Reed
Love
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Nashville Teens
Neil Young
Nils Lofgren
Nirvana
Oasis
Otis Redding
Python Lee Jackson
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Rod Stewart
Rolling Stones
Roxy Music
Sam & Dave
Sex Pistols
Showstoppers
Sly and the Family Stone
Small Faces
Specials
Squeeze
Stevie Wonder
Talking Heads
Temptations
Them
Tony Joe White
Undertones
Warren Zevon
Who
Zombies

Mostly familiar names - but perhaps a few you may not have heard of. Noticeable absence of Radiohead - not quite sure why.