Tuesday - health checks

Today I'm heading West - I've been invited to tea at Julie's and then Brian and I are going to the pub to watch the big Arsenal - Man U Champions League semi, second leg - we were at the first leg last week in Manchester.

I've got some early morning meetings in Glasgow tomorrow - normally I would stay with Barry and Helen, but I so wanted to see the match tonight, and I know neither of them are football fans - it would be unfair of me to go there and ask them to put the football on all night.

Anyway, Jo's better now - she was really OK yesterday but didn't want to rush herself back - no change there then. Today she's back at the Doctor's - it's drugs issue time. Thinking about health, did any of you read the article in the Ecosse section of the Sunday Times this week? Click to enlarge and read:

Dan Corbett is feeling better after his heart attack in Argentina and, against all the odds, he is coming to Boat of Garten this weekend after all. He sent me this interesting link yesterday - http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf - try it. My results were:

So the good news is that I'm not really 60 after all - I'm 10 years younger! The bad news is it predicts I won't last quite as long as Dad's current age!

I don't feel 50 this morning - we played racquetball last night at Crathes - the first time we have done that for about a year - we have been playing squash doubles over the winter up at Findrack. With racquetball singles you have to cover the whole court yourself - no partner to rely on - and with such a bouncy ball, everything is retrievable and so there's not much rest - you have to work a lot harder. Reminded me how unfit and fat I'm getting.

Plans and schemes

It's been another lovely weekend - golf yesterday in shorts again and it's been nice again today too. After squash last night, Jo and I went to the golf club for dinner with Colin and Johanne - lovely meal - we both had steaks.

I got up later this morning - I was pretty tired and sore after playing footy on Friday, then golf and squash yesterday - and I wasn't golfing today. When I eventually dragged myself downstairs, I assumed that Jo had gone off to church, but, no - there she was, lying flat out on the floor in the back room. She wasn't feeling good at all, so I despatched her to bed, got her some water and shut the curtains and doors.

What was wrong with Jo? She complained about S & D, but she was never actually sick - headaches and temperature fluctuations seemed to be the main problem. Maybe it was fear - she had said last night when she found out I wasn't golfing today, that was great - we could do something together today. OK, I said - let's walk up Clach-na-ben - we've never done it before. The blood rushed from Jo's face - I think this was a bit more than she had envisaged. Ah well, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

I was also supposed to be going to the Lemon Tree to see Maggie Bell (and Dave Kelly) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Bell) but, with Ross not home, I thought I had better stay here, so I cancelled - but no sooner had I done this than Ross appeared again. No matter - I was quite happy to stay in - I was pretty tired anyway and although I would love to have seen her, I wasn't really up for it tonight.

Elderslie-Manchester-Glasgow and home again

Ross and I drove down and picked up Brian and his pal Jim from Glamis Avenue and we all drove down to Manchester together. The match was great and we had a good time catching up with Brian again. Here we all are having a beer after the match:


Today we drove back and dropped Brian and Jim in the centre of Glasgow (they insisted) and then went off for a quick bite at the Pond Hotel before going in to see Dad at Erskine Glasgow. He had just had lunch and was dozing in a chair at the end of the corridor on the SW side of Flanders House:

We didn't waken him but Ross and I spoke softly and he eventually came round slowly. "Who are you?" - it got a lot worse after that - his lips were thin and he snarled at us and would probably have verbally abused us, if he could find the words. Suffice to say, he told us to scram - so we did - for a while anyway. We then went back and tried again, but his mood was no better, and this time, he got up and walked away. We followed him round - at a safe distance - and he took the same seat in the NE corner, just outside his room. I watched as one of the care assistants got the same treatment as we'd just had, so I decided there was no point in trying again - although we did say cheerio, but all we got was a scowl.

I've never seen him like this and it was a bit upsetting. I spoke to the care assistant and he said it sometimes happens after lunch - he didn't elaborate why, but said it was best just to walk away.

Anyway, Kelly - I previously got a row from Gary for talking prematurely about the Apprentice result in my blog - and what did I do today on the road back from Manchester? - Yup - I read your blog - I obviously hadn't seen the Apprentice last night when we were at the football, so it was a bit of a bummer to stumble across the result before I got home and watched it tonight on Sky +. You've spoiled the surprise!

Wednesday

Despite all the promises, it seems only Gary and I are updating our blogs regularly - mmmm

Just heading off to Old Trafford with Ross - picking up Brian and pal in Elderslie. I finally got my car back at 6 pm last night - touch and go. Just wakened Ross - he promised to do us all a favour and shower before travelling down, but it hasn't happened yet - no surprise there then.

Waiting for a car

I took Cathy Clark's BMW home last night - luckily no mishaps in our drive overnight - and then returned it to Jacquie's this morning. So here I am waiting for a call from Arnold Clark - will they let me down? Will I have go to Plan B to get me home tonight and down to Manchester tomorrow? Who knows?

I just spoke to Brian, so I have agreed to go and pick him up in Elderslie - bit of a detour for us, but Brian seemed a little uncertain about meeting us on the motorway and he's got some work to do in the morning.

Not much else happening, but looking forward to Barcelona - Chelsea tonight - hope it's better than last night's Newcastle - Portsmouth.

Car update

Just heard from Arnold Clark - obviously they did look at my car this morning after all - perhaps because of the fuss I made? - apparently they have found another fault which requires a part - and, true to form, they don't have it in stock and will have to order it in. They say they should get it tomorrow, but it's a full day's work and the earliest I'll get my car back is tomorrow night - and, of course, I need it to drive to Manchester and back on Wednesday morning - Ross and I are meeting Brian and his pal near Glasgow.

I'm now trying to put back-up options in place.

Monday, Monday

The day started off with a bang - although I didn't hear it. There was a note from Ross on the stair this morning asking me to check my car. Apparently, he had decided to take Harris home just after midnight, but, instead of just using my car, which was at the bottom of the drive, he use the big red Jag, which belongs to Derek Glass.

He though he could squeeze past, but failed and there's a great big scrape on the Jag now - and some on the Volvo rear bumper too. Ross is apparently insured and he tells me it's fully comprehensive alright, but he can't afford to make a claim just now - I guess that means he has a large excess. Of course, the root problem is that he has no cash now and no immediate prospects of bringing any in - but does that mean he's searching for a job? What do you think? Apparently online gaming is far more important.

Do I sound dispirited and frustrated? You bet I am.

I think I took out some of this frustration at Arnold Clark's this morning. My car had come up with red warning lights this weekend, "saying brake fluid low - urgent service required", so I decided I had better go straight to Arnold Clark's and get them to look at it. The car is theirs (under contract hire) and service intervals are 18,000 miles - the last service was 54,000 miles and the car has done 62,000 miles, so the next service is not due for another 10,000 miles yet.

I was there sharp at 8:00 am when they open and I explained the position. I had hoped they would have a quick look at it and top up the brake fluid there and then. I was happy to wait a couple of hours if necessary, but was immediately told that they were very busy with other cars that had been booked in for this morning and would not even manage to look at it until this afternoon. I tried, in vain, to ask that they at least treat this as a priority, but I got a pretty snotty response from a little jobsworth.

OK - what about getting me back from Tullos to Bridge of Don? "There's a courtesy vehicle that can take you to the centre of town" - that's all? "Sorry, sir". The steam was starting to come out of both ears now and I told her what I thought about their service and especially her attitude.

Hope the rest of the day gets better.

April showers?

Some of you may remember the song - but the fact of the matter is that we haven't had any showers at all - in fact April's been an exceptionally dry and sunny month in NE Scotland. I played for Banchory Seniors at Edzell yesterday afternoon and it was a fine afternoon, and this morning at Banchory it was beautiful - and I scored a net 64, so I'm a happy camper now.

Hoping to play squash doubles this evening as well - and then watch the Man U - Spurs match.

Ross is away to see the Granite City rally today. The reality of his termination with Bancon was confirmed when we saw his job advertised in yesterday's P & J - how sad. Walter Mitty? What are we to do?

Old Trafford surprise

On the off chance, I decided to text Brian (Hanson) to see if he might be interested in joining us at Old Trafford - and he said yes! Still one ticket left.

Warning - Apprentice comments

Golf was fun last night, but I didn't manage to get the shorts on - it was nice and sunny, but just a bit cool.

When I got home, no Josephine - Ross told me she had taken Luca back to Inverurie about 6 pm. By the time it was approaching 11 pm, I thought I had better phone Carole - no problem, Jo's just left. When she got home, I was in bed with one eye on the Man U match replay and another trying to finish off Ian Rankin's last Rebus novel, Exit Music - not quite there yet - perhaps I'll finish it tonight.

I ate my tea on my own - Ross was on the computer with Thomas - so it was time to watch the Apprentice. Kim had to go - if not this week, then some time soon - but how lucky was the big Geordie? - Pantsman indeed!

A lot of the guys in our business are away next week at the European Seafood show in Brussels - which just happens to coincide with the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at Old Trafford against Arsenal - which means the corporate tickets are available again - probably for the last time - we're giving them up for next season. I'll have to miss my golf, but there you go - and Ross wants to come too - but no Gary again - he can't get time off. Still got 2 spares if anyone wants to join us? Craig/Carole?

Tomorrow it's work in the morning and then a Seniors match in the afternoon at Edzell - hope it stays nice - and dry.

That's it for now - must say I find this easier than Facebook - I guess I'm still coming to terms with how to use the latter, but it seems to me that a daily blog diary is a lot easier. I guess Facebook is for shorter messages - like Twitter, only with additional features.

Footy, footy, footy

What a match last night! Liverpool 4 Arsenal 4 for those of you not in the know. I watched the first half upstairs in bed - I swapped the mini TV we had in our room for the one my Dad used to have. It was on a stand and I was dismantling it to take it down to the garage when I suddenly thought this could be the answer to Jo's complaints about not being able to see the TV when I roll over to sleep and she wants to carry on watching Alibi or Sci-fi.

It's certainly a lot bigger and the picture and sound are much better. The smaller TV had been used in my office for many years, purely on teletext and the data had burned itself on to the screen, so this is a big improvement in bedtime viewing.

Today has started gloriously and I'm looking forward to golf tonight - will it be warm enough for shorts? Watch this space.

Ruby Tuesday

Why the headline? I don't know - I was just trying to think of some way of describing the day of this post. For the younger ones, this was the title of a famous Stones song from the 60's - also covered by Melanie a few years later.

Of course, other days of the week inspired some famous songs - Sunday, Bloody Sunday (U2); Monday, Monday (Mamas & Papas); Wednesday Week (Undertones); Friday on My Mind (Easybeats); and Saturday Night at the Movies (Drifters) - these were all easy to get - in fact, many more sprung to mind - but what about the God of War's day? I couldn't think of a song title with Thursday in it - but, of course, nowadays, Google comes to the rescue - check http://www.philbrodieband.com/muso-8-days-a-week.htm#days

Anyway, today was fairly routine, albeit I attended a short lunchtime course in Aberdeen about the many changes taking place in UK and European employment legislation. I had to park in College St and it's a Pay and Display - and I didn't have enough coins on me. Technology to the rescue again - phone this number on your mobile and pay for your parking that way. Of course, it's all machine driven, using voice recognition - I'm trying to say SV56 NWJ in a noisy car park and the answer comes back "FB56 MWG" - is this correct? - answer no - try again - and again - and eventually I get to speak to a human - 5 and half minutes of premium phone time later, I'm sorted. Just as well I wasn't in a rush - I'll remember to carry more coins next time.

Came home sharp again tonight - had time for a haircut and still was in the house just after 5 pm - caught Jo on the hop a bit - "what are you doing here?" Anyway, compensation was in the form of a cup of tea and slice of yummy banana bread. Tea wasn't much later - a scrummy melange of bacon, fried egg, mushrooms and tomato - Jo's still cooking for 6 - there was tons left over, but no doubt our midnight rambler will scoff up all the leftovers.

Talking about Ross, he still hasn't had his formal letter from Bancon about his termination - pretty poor I think. He got an acknowledgment yesterday of receipt of the application for the one and only job he has been able to apply for so far - times are tough. Kelly said one of her friends was looking for somebody to set up a running web site for her - perhaps he might get some work this way - I do hope so.

Kelly did manage to Skype us last night - although the call quality dropped off the longer we were online - I think it's the Cornish way - broadband? more like slowband - even the phone lines are c..p.

I also managed to locate Gary's Skype account at last - all we need now is for him to use it.

Settling down now for the big Liverpool - Arsenal match tonight - more news tomorrow.

Holiday? Monday

A local holiday in Aberdeen - but where was I? You guessed it - in the office. What a lovely day it was as well - I thought about nipping away early for a few holes - I texted Jo to see if I could encourage her to come out for the first time - but no reply and when I got home, the sun had gone and I had lost the urge anyway. Another time, perhaps.

I've also cancelled my brewing day tomorrow - I phoned Rob and asked if he could change it to next week, but he's too busy then - I sensed he was too busy now as well, so I offered to defer my day until a more suitable time.

What else is on this week? Hopefully golf on Wednesday and I'm playing for the Seniors on Friday afternoon at Edzell. Nothing else planned.

Weekend grinds to a halt

Saturday was still a bit dull, although at least it was dry - the haar had gone a long way inland this time. However, at least playing golf in Banchory was a lot more pleasant than it had been at St Andrews Bay on Friday - the wind off the sea there was cold and bitter and it was really hard work.

We got our reward today, though - it was wall to wall sunshine from the start. Golf in the morning was great and we had been invited to Rob Pollard's house to celebrate his 60th (last Tuesday) - what a lovely afternoon - we sat outside and drank his beer and wine and had a lovely lunch, which we found out later had been provided by the golf club. It was superb. Jo and I walked home and stopped off at the War Memorial for a seat and a photo opportunity:

Here she is striding towards the camera:

Right now, however, she's horizontal on her face in bed - I think perhaps a couple of glasses of wine too many.