Equinox(es)

Yes, it's the autumn equinox today - or the spring (vernal) equinox in the southern hemisphere. As all the doom and gloom merchants in NE Scotland would say - it's all downhill from here. Another 5 + weeks and the clocks will be going back. It's a bit of an oddity that, when that happens, the time difference from Kelly in Adelaide goes up from eight and a half hours to ten and a half hours, as they spring forward when we fall back.

It's also 50 years since I left Victoria Drive Secondary School to start training as a Chartered Accountant in September, 1965. This was the Top 10 in the UK then:

Pos	LW	Title, Artist	Peak Pos	WoC
1	3	MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF WALKER BROTHERS PHILIPS	1	6
2	1	(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION THE ROLLING STONES DECCA	1	5
3	7	TEARS KEN DODD COLUMBIA	3	4
4	2	I GOT YOU BABE SONNY AND CHER ATLANTIC	1	7
5	5	LOOK THROUGH ANY WINDOW THE HOLLIES PARLOPHONE	5	4
6	4	LIKE A ROLLING STONE BOB DYLAN CBS	4	6
7	6	WALK IN THE BLACK FOREST HORST JANKOWSKI MERCURY	3	9
8	10	ZORBA'S DANCE MARCELLO MINERBI DURIUM	6	10
9	18	EVE OF DESTRUCTION BARRY MCGUIRE RCA	9	3
10	9	LAUGH AT ME SONNY ATLANTIC	9	6

So it wasn't all great music in the 60's - viz. Ken Dodd at No. 3 - and, unusually, there are two instrumentals in the Top 10, but Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone increases the credibility factor - a tune I remember well from a weekend in Millport, as earlier reported in my Chronicles. I had just passed my Highers and Mum and Dad didn't buy me the promised record player until Christmas that year, so I never owned any of these records.

 It's also 32 years ago this week that I started work at Clipper Seafoods in Aberdeen. The rest of the family were still in Edinburgh and I used to bring home the bacon (chocolate biscuits actually) on a Friday night.

Bringing things back up to date, today is Scotland's first match in the Rugby World Cup and they face Japan in a game that Scotland were initially expected to win, but, after Japan's deserved win over former World Champions South Africa on Saturday, they have started to make noises about running Scotland off the park. We can only hope that this serves as a clarion call to the Scots to do their stuff.

Tomorrow, it's golf at Forfar and on Friday, the Penicuik men arrive to repair our front door. I also have Alistair Scott, our financial/pensions adviser coming up and we'll have a spot of lunch somewhere. If it's nice we might go for a game of golf as well.