sixoh8sixoh

Having missed a week I obviously missed the most important news (for which, thanks to Mal for drawing to my attention). Thoughts are with Dave at this time, and I'm sure everyone has already been far more eloquent than I could ever be...

Morning all from (a steadily improving from cloudy to sunny) Scottish HQ! Well, you've managed 40 pages of drivel witty and informed content while I've been offline from ERs and RMweb, so with apologies for not being able to get through it just now, I hope all are well (or as well as can be expected). Despite the best efforts of the French air traffic controllers, we made it back from Disneyland Paris only half an hour late (shame, we were hoping for 3 hours to get us some compensation!) on Tuesday. Back to the grind today though, but I'm finishing at lunchtime tomorrow so it doesn't seem too long a drag to the end of the week!

Afternoon all from Scottish HQ. Won't say much on here but the mood on my Facebook timeline has been (overall) one of dismay and disbelief, one which I share. Yesterday's vote effectively began the break-up not just of the EU but the UK as well. Hope everyone's well.

Afternoon all from a dry but not especially bright Scottish HQ... Feeling rather ropey today, mild stomach upset not helping matters... And work not helping either. Lots to do, as we've got a big conference coming up on Thursday which our Minister was meant to attend but because of the referendum isn't - but the speech still has had to be written for someone else to deliver. Plus having issues as Treasurer, people going over budget on events and not happy that I'm pulling them up on it. Stress levels are higher than I'd like at the moment. Happy anniversary Robert & Mercedes and belatedly Simon and Mrs S. They don't do that at my nearest post office! That was my reaction to that photo too - I've never seen one before and have no wish to see one again! (and that's from someone who owns a Realtrack Class 144...)

Afternoon all from a sunny/cloudy/light shower/sunny again Scottish HQ. Been another busy weekend, down to Durham on Friday by train, back up again on Saturday, girlfriend's parents and sister visiting so that accounted for Saturday evening and then out with them and Jamie yesterday - went to Inchcolm Island and Abbey in the Firth of Forth. Hope everyone's well! May watch the England game tonight (I hope...).

Afternoon all from somewhere in central Scotland. I've been trying to catch up q little before posting but for the past three days just got to do a bit of the catching up a bit, sprinkling ratings but no posting! Hope Is manages to get out today. Best wishes to everyone else too. Sounds like Ian's enjoying Paris. I'm hoping to get a day in Paris in a fortnight's time. We've got 4 nights booked at Disneyland but I'm hoping Jamie doesn't want 4 days in the park and might let us investigate Paris for a day. Currently on my way to Glasgow for a meeting. Unfortunately the main E-G line is goosed at the moment as they're lowering the track in a tunnel at Queen Street Station to put in OHLE. So I'm on the all station stopper (Class 334) through Injun Country... Been pretty busy lately and unfortunately relationship with Jamie's mum has deteriorated to the point I had to send a 1700 word email to her last night. And not one of those 1700 words was sweary! Car's in for its MOT and service today at the very reasonable garage in my street. Despite having done 80K miles it's in good condition and has needed very little work today. It will need its timing belt replacing soon though. Best wishes to all and hoping to post again soon!

I was following this thread about the time the lighthouse was being constructed but have missed its progress since until recently. The bridge based on Connel Ferry is an absolute masterpiece! The whole layout is excellent and I hope I get the chance to see it in the flesh at a show sometime.

Afternoon all, much catching up to do that's unlikely to be possible! Good to see Rick back, though that does sound like an emotional rollercoaster of a trip. Hope all is ok with Dave and Is. Have had a busy week, last night was Jamie's school concert in which her class performed Happy (Pharell Williams), Somewhere Only We know (Keane) and Let it Go (from Frozen). What was really scary was some of the primary school kids performing skits based on Smash Hits Pollwinners party 1999 and SM:TV Live (Ant & Dec's Saturday morning show) and realising that those were before any of them were born. How to make a guy feel really old!

Morning all (well, it was before I got sidetracked) from a sunny Scottish HQ. I've got about a week of posts to catch up on (which probably won't happen). Had a busy bank holiday weekend as I took Jamie down to Mum and Dad's. Only one dog there this visit as one was ill and staying overnight at the vet's. Unfortunately he was so unwell he had to be put to sleep yesterday morning, as the vet thought he had cancer but was unlikely to survive sedation or anaesthetic to allow him to be tested fully. It's a shame as he went downhill so rapidly - only 10 days from seeming perfectly healthy. Jamie's school sports day on Tuesday so I vanished out of the office to that, then spent yesterday working from home. So today's my first full day in the office since last Thursday... Hope all are well - birthday greetings to Dave, and I hope Is is comfortable.

Afternoon all from Scottish HQ... Weather... what Mal said! I know the Fife Circle has been using a 67 with Mk2 stock at commuter hours (one of my colleagues gets on it occasionally and refers to it as the Hogwarts Express) recently so wouldn't surprise me if it was being used on that. I quite often see one of the dotty Scotrail 68s at the Malcolm depot in Grangemouth as I drive past on a Sunday (along with 66s, 60s and more rarely others). Jamie had a good report at parents' evening, and got sticky toffee pudding with custard as a treat afterwards. With her restricted diet, using a quarter of her daily protein allowance on that counts as a treat! Most importantly thoughts are with Dave and Is. It never rains...

Afternoon all from an overcast Scottish HQ! Not quite caught up, though I did try yesterday in between other jobs... Off shortly to the west to go to Jamie's parents' evening. Will have a word with the teacher about a rather disruptive influence in the class who's regularly upsetting Jamie.

Morning all from a sunny Scottish HQ. I've been away for a trip to Mull to celebrate GF's birthday, then with Jamie in Glasgow yesterday. Arrived back into Leith on Saturday night at 10pm from quiet, tranquil Mull to what looked like a war zone as Hibs fans celebrated their Scottish Cup win. Sorry not to have been able to catch up on posts so I hope everyone's well and recovering! Iona Abbey Fingal's Cave, Staffa Billy

Morning all from a was-sunny-now-overcast Scottish HQ. Richard - sorry to hear your news. Sensible way of handling things though, so that the person on holiday gets to enjoy their time away without fretting. Not much to report from last night, other than a quick drink at Teuchter's Landing (though certainly not the closest pub to me, what I consider my "local". Off to see a lawyer at a free clinic this evening to discuss contact issues. The ex is refusing point blank to let me have Jamie stay at my place - though she allows Jamie to stay at my parents'. I want to try and sort out some proper arrangements - unfortunately I suspect this is going to be expensive, having to deal with solicitors...

Restraining order? Sounds as balanced as my ex... Seeing a family law advisor (not a solicitor) tomorrow night about contact with Jamie, and have accepted the inevitable that I need to see a solicitor in the near future. Unfortunately I've found Police Scotland (and predecessors in L&B Police) to be less effective than a chocolate fireguard in my dealings with them. I've absolutely no faith in them or the prosecution system (having sat on a jury last year). Ian (OD) sorry to hear about the black dog, but glad that talking about the issue with Sherry has helped soothe things. Enjoyable race yesterday - I caught up on it late last night after being warned by my father to avoid the radio news on my drive back from Glasgow. Much more fun when there's no runaway winner.

Nope, it's fooled us! Afternoon all from a now sunny Scottish HQ. Had a walk along to Haymarket at lunchtime for a meeting, back at HQ now, though. Still no Ministers here till later in the week. Spent yesterday actively with Jamie and Anamaria (GF), did the 2K Junior Parkrun in the morning, then drove to Loch Lomond where we all went cycling. I'd just got a new bike rack (a Saris Bones 3) which meant for the first time we could load all the bikes to go away for the day. The worst thing is getting my bike down from the 4th floor down the narrow staircase! Hope all are well in the meantime, will catch up properly later.

Afternoon all from a cloudy and cool Scottish HQ, and a special loud hello to any triskaidekaphobic ERs hiding under their duvets today... Apologies for not catching up on the various posts, but hope all are well. Had a trip out to Irvine yesterday with work, 200 mile round trip for a 1 hour meeting. It was worth it, though, interesting meeting. I took (and passed) my test in a Metro (or it may have been the Rover rebranded Metro by that point) owned by my driving instructor. My first car was a white Clio (of the Nicole... Papa era). Ongoing discussions with rants from the ex about me trying to get proper access to Jamie... Not causing me sleepless nights just yet, but may well be some encounters with robbing shysters solicitors needed at some point soon.

That's probably 300 miles at 55mph with the air con off. Doing 70 with air con turned on will reduce it to about 215 according to their website. Mind you I rarely use the aircon in my current car. They do now have Tesla supercharger points at Edinburgh airport and a couple on my route to Durham too. Anyway, no chance of me getting one yet unless the lottery numbers come up! They now have a small showroom on Multrees Walk in Edinburgh (where the posh brands are, Louis Vuitton, Harvey Nicks, Nespresso...). This pic was taken a couple of weeks ago. Pete (Lightengine) cheers for the recommendation!

Cheers, Pete! They've finally reached a point with electric vehicles where it's possible to get the range I need on a car. The Model S (the more expensive one) has a range of over 300 miles. I regularly drive from Edinburgh to Glasgow, then to Durham via Carlisle - a car with a range of under 200 miles isn't enough to manage that (with any degree of certainty!) so I've never considered an electric as an option. Given that the Model 3 is going on sale at $35K, it's beginning to get to the point where electrics are getting close to mass market. Biggest problem for me with an electric, though, is that I'm in a 4th floor flat and would need a very long extension cable...! By the way, whoever recommended Brothers' Toffee Apple cider should give themselves a pat on the back. I really enjoyed a bottle last night. Maybe that's what sent me to sleep...

Morning all from a very pale blue skyed Scottish HQ. For some reason I was just exhausted last night and crashed out early (for me). My eyes were shutting from about 10.30. Jamie and I made some soda bread on Sunday (she enjoyed stirring the dry mixture together with her fingers, and getting messy with the wet mixture once the liquid was added. I'll be having some of that with soup for my lunch. Biggest excitement of the day so far is putting a line on for the Euromillions tonight. Got my eye on a Tesla Model 3 if it comes up trumps... Just round the corner from me, my flat's a 10 minute walk from Britannia. Sorry I didn't get to see you, but sounds like you had a great trip! And yet someone's still leaking them... Dom, that's a fantastically blue sky! Looks gorgeous there. Have a great holiday! Happy birthday Don!

Afternoon all from a sunny (though slightly hazy) Scottish HQ. The sun is very warm, but the air is still cool. Hopefully it'll pick up soon. Haven't quite caught up on everything from yesterday and this morning, but best wishes to all in the meantime. The weekend passed fairly quickly - went to the Parkrun on Saturday morning and pottered around the flat on Saturday afternoon and evening. Took Jamie to the Junior Parkrun on Sunday morning and we baked soda bread in the afternoon and watched The Force Awakens. I did some retail shifts while I was working for Boots just after leaving Uni, either 9-6 or 11-8 and I could be on E/L/E/L/E through the week, and working 5 out of 6 days Monday to Saturday with a moving feast of a day off... The civil service working time suits me rather better, though it can be galling being sat in the office on a gorgeous day.

Afternoon all from Scottish HQ. It's grey but the sun's making a valiant effort to break through the clouds. First of all, thoughts with Is and Dave. I hope things improve and the order of service isn't necessary for many years, and there's time to add in many more of those photos from walking trips to come. Mal, that's fantastic news. I'm really pleased to hear that! My great aunt Gladys was much the same, she was suffering from dementia (she'd called the police as there were intruders in her house, when no-one was there; was convinced someone was stealing from her house...). Unfortunately she was living in Deal (Kent) and we were in Durham and her only living relatives. As a result she went into residential care close to her home, and within two weeks had given up the ghost. She'd had a long life, was still swimming in the sea and going on holiday to Majorca well into her 80s, but when she hit about 91, went downhill fairly rapidly. We have some great stories about her though (excuse me for using the opportunity to have a ramble!). One time she was frying pork chops for my parents, and told my mum she had a lovely bit of crackling that she was crisping up for Dad. When my mum investigated to see why it was taking so long, it turned out she was attempting to crisp up the absorbent paper from the bottom of the plastic tray. We took her on holiday to Paris with us (she must have been 88, I think and walked with a stick). She'd spent the whole day holding us up and doddering along. Dad had a video camera with him, which he'd accidentally left recording while we walked around Montmartre (so there's a good 20 minutes of upside down footage of behind Mum and Dad as they walk, complaining about my auntie - thankfully they'd checked watched the footage on a portable tv/miniVHS before showing it to her and were able to swiftly fast forward that bit!). We reached the viewing platform across from the Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon, and Auntie got separated from us. There's video footage of her not using her stick and marching across the plaza like a WRAF cadet to try and find us! Last memory of that holiday for now. We'd stayed in two hotels in the Loire Valley, near Blois and Orleans (I think), and the wines hadn't suited my auntie at all. We'd tried medium whites, gradually getting sweeter and sweeter in the hotels but they were all too dry for her. Finally we arrived in our last stop in Ranes (about 70 miles north of where Ian (OD) is in La Sarthe), and in desperation we ordered a dessert wine with the meal. She took one sip of this, and declared "Oh no, that's far too sweet!" Back to reality... Interesting results from the SP elections yesterday. Conservatives having their best electoral performance in Scotland since 1992, Labour in freefall but sticking resolutely to their leader (imho the last thing they need is to change leader again), SNP getting an increase in vote but losing their overall majority in the Parliament and the Greens overtaking the Lib Dems as the fourth party in Scotland. Should make for an interesting Parliament for us, coalition or minority governments are considerably more interesting to work for than outright majorities! Jack, thanks! We were very tight for time for deviations off the A9 on Sunday, but I'd be interested to know your thoughts as to the best ones for future trips! We passed the Ben Nevis Distillery on Saturday, which was shut, and had a look in the Tomintoul Distillery driveway but it wasn't particularly photogenic for the visitors. The Athol Distillery was closed too.

Afternoon all from a grey Scottish HQ. Today being Election Day, it's always a slightly strange day here. News blackout essentially from the BBC on anything other than "voting is happening". The result here is pretty much a foregone conclusion, and as I've commented on Facebook, I think a lot of people are suffering from election fatigue. I'll be interested to see what today's turnout is, I'm sure it won't hit the heights of the 85% achieved at the referendum. With the Indyref, GE2015, SP2016, EU referendum and the American presidential election, I think we're due a year off in 2017 from exercising any constitutional rights!! I promised an update at a later date. Went up to the Highlands with 5 Bulgarians (all living in London) and the Romanian GF on Saturday - we stayed overnight near Drumnadrochit. Did a tour including fish and chips at the Allanwater Café (Bridge of Allan), Doune Castle, Falls of Dochart at Killin, Glencoe, Aonach Mor (via Scotland's only gondola), Glenfinnan (missing Neil by a day!) Fort Augustus, Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Dalwhinnie Distillery, Blair Castle, Dunkeld, Queensferry to view the Bridges and back to Edinburgh. Group photo, Inverness Tasting whiskies at Dalwhinnie Glencoe Doune Castle (as seen in the Amazon Outlander series and Monty Python and the Holy Grail) Funnily enough I was thinking of Don Bradley too yesterday after I read the news about Jock. He always took an interest in Jamie's development, particularly as he was close to someone with PKU just like Jamie. I thought I'd post this today - this was taken on Monday when Jamie and I went pony trekking at Lake of Menteith (dodging between the torrential downpours), so if Don's looking on from above, here's how Jamie's getting on!

Morning all and a sad goodnight to Jock. His fight against cancer was an absolute inspiration, I was delighted with every month's report of continuation of the chemo, with his attitude and determination. I'll miss his "catch-up" posts on ERs. And of course I'll add something to the fund-raising page. ERs is such a supportive thread and is really a shining example of how well we can all support each other, laugh together and almost never in my experience have any cross words. I was trying to catch up yesterday and had got to Monday's posts but not quite caught up. I'll fill in details of my weekend at a more appropriate time. Will raise a glass of something peaty tonight to Jock.

Waiting in a hired minibus (well, 9 seater but it might as well be) on the outskirts of Edinburgh Airport for a bunch of folk that we're picking up to head to the Highlands. There's no easy lurking places at Edinburgh Airport to wait without paying. Unfortunately the visitors are disorganised and not on the same flight!

I think they were off on a grand tour of western England visiting relatives so I don't think there's any reason to be concerned! Probably just finding time to check in is difficult given the exhausting nature of seeing family...