Snowy Saturday

When the snow came down in Aberdeen yesterday afternoon, it seems every man and his dog decided to panic and rush home - including me. The upshot was chaos - Bridge of Don instantly became a car park. I left before 3 pm and it took me over one hour to travel the 400 yards from my office down the hill to the McDonald's corner. I was going to drop out of the football but I was getting nowhere anyway so just decided to try to get to the Beach and hopefully the traffic would have moved by the time we had finished - this plan eventually worked, although not all of the players made it in time, so it was a bit disjointed.

We got back to Banchory - which showed little signs of weather disruption - safely and I had a few beers at the Douglas after tea, whilst Jo caught up with her X-Files. This morning, however, we have snow - I've got 2 tickets for the Scottish Cup match against East Fife, but I'm not sure whether or not I want to go - will take a rain check.

As nobody wants to take part in my photo quizzes, I've decided to give the answers up front. This is Kelly and I at the Performing Arts Center (sic) at Branson, Missouri in 2002:

Kelly must have wondered what hit her that year - not only was she on holiday with her parents at the age of 23, but she - and we - discovered that being in your 50's actually makes you one of the younger generation in Branson - where it seems many Americans go to spend their final years whilst being entertained by former stars of their era giving it one last hurrah at the many shows in town.

We went to see the Platters - or at least one of the many touring franchises bearing that name - and a dreadful Neil Diamond impersonator (Eric Monet). Here we are just before the Platters show:

The theaters (sic) were full of vets - not Vietnam or Korea but from a greater vintage - many wearing their medals, and each show was preceded by the national anthem when everybody stood up, saluted and sang along. We also stood - we felt we had no option - but saluting and singing? - we didn't know the words anyway. We felt like traitors or spies - it seemed every eye was on us. Weird feeling, but remember this was our first US holiday since 9/11 and all the nationalistic tendencies were coming out - although I have a feeling that Branson is caught in a bit of a time bubble and is always like that.

Quiz answers

Jo and I were pictured outside Ronda bullring in Southern Spain in 1999.

Troublesome travel

What a waste of a morning! Headed off for Fraserburgh at 7 am this morning - travel OK until I got nearer Kintore/Inverurie and encountered a virtual white-out. I decided it wasn't wise to carry on my journey so I stopped off at Gary and Carole's. Gary was heading off in his 4 wheel drive to Dyce, but an hour later he'd only got as far as Kintore (3 miles away) - the dual carriageway ahead was gridlocked - cars couldn't get up either side of Tyrebagger hill. Gary headed home and another hour later he made it.

Just after 11 am, the snow relented a little and I decided to try the roads again. Should I try to get back to Banchory, or should I try to get to Fraserburgh (where there was no snow)? I drove gingerly to Oldmeldrum then on towards Methlick and then started to think twice - by the time I would get to Fraserburgh (if at all) I would have to turn back again. Finding somewhere to turn the car round was tricky but I finally managed it and got home at lunchtime. Deeside was fine - the roads were black - but the lunchtime TV news showed the problems around Inverurie and north of there.

Anyway, no sign of Jo here - she had a hairdresser's appointment this morning but it's after pm now and she's still not back. Ross was here however - asleep in his bed, still fully dressed! Just home for a lunchtime nap, he said! Chancer!

Rake-ish glasses

Perhaps the following photo demonstrates the extreme angle of my driving glasses now - the optician told me it's normal to have about a 5% angle but mine are now more like 35%!

Tuesday - home early

Left work early - had enough - long board meeting. I drove back to Banchory to see the optician about my driving glasses - one of the lenses had popped out (again). He fixed it no problem but asked me if I had sat on the glasses? It was only then that I noticed that the lenses were sitting at quite an acute angle when you put the glasses on. I checked and I could still see OK and we decided it was best not to tamper with the frames for the time being.

I had a look at new frames when I was there - I've got a slight adjustment to my prescription and I thought I might try varifocals again. They checked my records and it was 1991 when I bought the last pair. Apparently, technology has moved on quite a bit, so perhaps time to try again. The only problem is which frames? Eyewise has a very uninspiring collection - perhaps I should try the new optician we now have in Banchory? May need some help here.

I also had time to nip in for a quick haircut - number 3 all over, in case you were wondering.

Chilli for tea, then Jo and I nipped out to the Potarch and the Feughside to do a couple of quick pub surveys. Reluctantly, we nipped in to Scott Skinner's when we got back to Banchory, hoping against hope that the beer was OK this time - how wrong can you be? I almost feel like reporting them to Trading Standards or Health and Safety - gross!

Still no snow - looks like we are going to miss it this time.

Today's archive photo is from which country - and when? Bit of a clue in the photo:

Quiz answers

It was Washington Park in Portland that we were in - and it's the Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny etc) cartoons that end with "That's all folks!"

Portland state of mind

With occasional snow flurries outside my office window, forgive me if my thoughts today turn towards summer holidays, so, with apologies to Billy Joel for corrupting his song title above, I'm looking forward to going back to Portland again this summer.

5 years ago, we visited the Bridgeport brewery, home of my favourite bottle conditioned IPA - Jo liked the live hops growing everywhere - although Cade was a little disinterested:

The news today is full of the snow storms that are affecting the southern part of the country - London and the South East commuter area seems to have come to a virtual halt. We're OK here - the roads are clear and they're absolutely no sign of snow on the ground in Aberdeen - but it could be coming our way tonight.

I managed to watch a bit of the golf from Scottsdale, Arizona last night - perfect weather and great courses in what is, I think, my favourite American state (from those I've been to so far).

You'll all be pleased to know that Ross (or should that be R***, given his likening for conspiracy theories?) made it back home safely yesterday - as did my car! They seemed to have a good time and the weather was kind to them on their drive. He could be going from the sublime to the ridiculous as this Saturday Aberdeen are at home to East Fife in the cup!

Today is Candlemas - I knew it as a traditional Scottish quarter day when ground rents were due under the old feudal system. It's also the half way point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, but the internet has a variety of other stories, and historical and religious significances, including the following beauty:

February 2 is "Candlemas" in many churches and is the day for observing the ritual purification of Mary forty days after the birth of Jesus as well as the presentation of Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem (see Luke 2:21-40). The day has pagan roots and was a Christian adaptation of the older practices for this midwinter festivity from which we get our "Groundhog Day." Since the presentation was also the purification of Mary (40 days after childbirth), the church developed ritual practices known as the "Churching of Women" (see additional notes at bottom of page) or "Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth." The following is an explanation:

Seven days after Christmas, January 1, is the feast of our Lord's circumcision

Thirty three days after that, February 2 is the feast of his being offered in the Temple, the purification of the Virgin Mary. So Candlemass is fourty days after the birth of Jesus.

Oakbank school

Check the letters page in yesterday's P & J - http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1055720

Kelly's and Craig's old workplace is still providing controversy!

Weekend before the storms

Not only have we booked our flights, but I've also now booked the hotels in Portland. We were last there in 2004 - note how small the boys were:

Today's quiz is what is the name of the park we were in?

They're forecasting heavy snow in the UK for tonight, but most of it seems to be south of here, so we might escape. Right now, it does seem like the calm before the storm. Conditions have been fair and pretty mild for the time of year - golf this morning was fine - it was good to walk on soft grass again after all the hard frosts and ice that has been lingering for a while.

Well, Ross made it the Man U match OK - he phoned me from the corporate hospitality lounge. They made it in nice time after I managed to persuade him that leaving here at 9:00 am was not really sensible, especially given that he had to go in to Aberdeen to pick up Liam and Thomas, then detour via Penicuik to pick up Harris. My rant for today is about people (like Ross) planning a trip like this and not building in any slack for things going wrong - as they inevitably do. Anyway, for once, he listened and adjusted his departure time to 7:30 am. Let's hope they get back safely as well!

Played football Friday, squash last night and golf this morning - and then I nipped out to Dave Williamson's to do a technical check for our next headbang in 2 weeks' time - he's got a new toy that he tells me converts digital sound output back in to analogue which should apparently further improve the overall sound quality. Dave's sound system is already pretty good, so this will be an interesting experiment.

Footy this afternoon is the big Liverpool - Chelsea match - both teams will be feeling the pressure after Man U managed another win last night to move 5 points ahead.

That's all for now, folks! (2nd quiz question - where did you see this phrase?)