Saturday blog

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Travel to work did get much easier towards the end of the week. I got up early on Thursday morning fearing the worst for my journey to Fraserburgh, but I sailed through and was at my desk in the Broch by 7:45 am - well ahead of schedule. It was a busy day, but I made it back down to Kippie Lodge in time to get a game of doubles with Malcolm, Richard, Keith and Dan.

The forecast for Friday was bad and I was swithering about whether to work from home or not. I was tempted by the additional possibility of watching Andy Murray's semi-final from Melbourne, but, in the end, I went to the Bridge of Don office, where I was able to do some work and also watch Andy's great win. Tomorrow morning - like the rest of the nation - I'll be glued to my TV, hoping he can pull it off against Djokovic.

This morning, we watched the Tour Down Under - with the sound off mostly - on TV, looking out for some of the places round Adelaide that we'd visited a few short weeks ago. Then, Gary and Luca arrived - the first time Jo had seen them since before Christmas. They had come directly from Luca's football practice and he was resplendent in his new Aberdeen strip - a Christmas present. When I asked him to pose, he insisted on also showing one of the Octonauts gifts that Kelly and Chris had bought for him:

It's a beautiful, almost spring-like day outside, but with plenty of snow still lying on the golf course - ideal for sledging down the 3rd hole, as our children, nephews and nieces, and, indeed, other grandchildren, have done over the years - but the boy is not for turning. He'd rather stay indoors with his Granny Jo.

Another moan

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Yes, here I go again. It's been a week of travel hell. I made it to Fraserburgh yesterday - eventually. Again the major problem was wind blowing dry, powdery snow off the fields on to the roads. I was listening to the local travel reports - including NorthSound's JamBuster line - and they were bad enough to make me stop off in Inverurie for a cup of tea and assess whether to go on or not.

I had the good grace to phone Carole before I stopped off at Rae Circle, giving her the chance to hurriedly get dressed. Gary was just getting ready to go to work and Luca was there, complete with big smiles and a giant hug - that made it all worthwhile stopping.

In Fraserburgh itself, there wasn't even the remotest sign of snow. However, I had experienced what it was like inland, so I decided to drive home down the coastal road to Aberdeen - and that was fine until I got to Garlogie where I started to hear the ominous rumble of hard packed ice under the tyres, so it was a slow crawl from there.

Summary of yesterday - time spent at work = four and a half hours. Time spent in car = 5 hours. Something not right there.

Today wasn't much better. I'd had enough of side roads and decided to stick to main roads only on my way to our Aberdeen factory at Bridge of Don. The problem with this is, nowadays, Westhill is so busy with all the oil service companies that have set up there, that it was nose to tail all the way from there to B.o.D. Elapsed time to my office - 2 hours. Grrr.

I'll be out of here soon - well before everyone else heads home hopefully.

Tomorrow it's Fraserburgh again. Any bets on how long it's going to take me?

Monday moan

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

Great start to the day/week - got stuck in snow this morning - and it's not even snowing here! I went the back road via Tyrebagger and came to one section of the road that is open with high fields on one side, and the wind was blowing the snow from the field on to the road.

A car coming up the slope towards me got stuck but I thought I still had room to get past him, but it was so tight that I ended up going in to the deeper snow just off the road. Great - now there's 2 cars stuck, side by side, with the road now totally blocked. The good thing about this is that everyone behind came out to help dig and push us out! Uncomfortable, but a result.

After a weekend of complete inactivity, it's squash again for me tonight.

I booked tickets for Jo and I to go and see Tony Robinson at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Saturday 1st March. The blurb says:

Come and hear Tony talk about his love of archaeology, his passion for history and how he's created a career that has lasted and lasted, making him one of the best known TV stars of our time.

Here he is:

Yes - it's Blackadder's Baldrick!

I also bought tickets for 5 of us to go to Glasgow to see Wilko Johnson's final concert in his Farewell Tour. He's got pancreatic cancer and is refusing chemotherapy, so he ain't going to be around much longer. Here he is in his prime:

and here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilko_Johnson

So that's about it for today. Oh - nearly forgot to tell you that "Wart-off" works. Yes, I got my first ever wart at the age of almost 64, but it's gone now thanks to this Aussie acid.

Another thing - I suspect that I'm allergic to the memory foam pillow I bought last month, so I've now acquired a cheaper hypo-allergenic one to try out.

Weekend blog

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

First weekend at home for a while and I'm taking the opportunity to revel in doing just about nothing. Why, even my Saturday and Sunday papers were brought to me, courtesy of Jo (yesterday) and Ross (this morning).

I did go to the golf club on Friday night and have a few beers at the quiz night - it was nice to see everyone again. Not sure exactly when we all stop wishing each other Happy New Year though.

I also went to the Douglas last night to watch the tea-time match and have a couple of beers with Colin and Ian McRae, so you can see I'm not completely de-toxing after our Aussie holiday. Lucy was on FaceTime last night and we were talking about how, when we come home after our American holiday each year, they make a point of taking absolutely no alcohol for a while. In other words, all the beer, wine and cocktails we consume daily in Grants Pass is all our fault. Maybe she's right?

I guess Kelly and Chris will be feeling exactly the same just now - not having to imbibe daily. Yes, holidays are for sunshine, heat, books and alcohol - or so it seems.

I especially enjoy reading books on holiday - I seldom get the time to devour them at home - an occasional chapter before I go to sleep, that's all. I read Diary of a Football Nobody, plus a Michael Connelly Harry Bosch novel - and half another one - and Lorene (Chris' Mum) gave me one of her Lee Childs' Jack Reacher (now a Hollywood novel starring Tom Cruise - http://www.jackreachermovie.co.uk/) books to read as well. I'm sure I read another book too, but can't remember which one it was now - it's probably still at Kelly and Chris' place. I've brought Pete Townsend's autobiography home - it was a Christmas present from Kelly and Chris.

We've also started watching Homeland Series 1 - we missed out on it when it started, but are catching up now. We've come back to the usual mountain of Corries as well - good zoning filler when you're a little zonked out. A new series of Borgen started on BBC Four when we were away so we've missed the first couple of episodes - damn - and they're not on catch-up TV, so we're going to have to figure it out somehow. All these series start each episode with what happened in previous episodes anyway, so we should be alright.

So what's on the agenda today then? Sunday Times of course, plus Match of the Day, followed by the Chelsea - Arsenal and Spurs - Man Utd matches, with filler supplied by the golf from Abu Dhabi - played on one of my favourite courses - one I know well. Sounds good to me - best get on with it then. Bye for now.