Category Archives: Uncategorized

(is it safe?) Due to something of a family emergency, I was unable to attend 101 songs for 101 years of Dalmally. Going by the photos, the sun shone, the midgies were fierce, and the music was good. Meanwhile, I am tasked with some preparation for my mother’s hoped-for, return from hospital. Some kind ofContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”

(re – cycle) My bicycle has been hiding in the garage since it was lent out for the “can we cycle the west highland way?” [No!] debacle last year. There are a number of reasons for this; some protracted ankle/knee injuries, the endless tyrany of nightshift, the wet wet wet… also Geography. In my previousContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life….”

( Weak week) If this typing is a bit slow, it’s because I staved my thumb. Or sprained my thumb…or strained my thumb. Gradually the years have taken from me some of my “bounce-back-abilty”, so that a tumble down a flight of stairs now hurts enough to require a lie down. Actually, these days, aContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life….”

(solstice) Happy “standing still of the sun” (that’s the actual translation). I hope you had a delightful midsummer longest day (I worked 11 hours – inside). As a West Coast of Scotland resident, I am legally obligated to observe – the solstice having passed – that; “the nights are fair drawin’ in”. In which case…Continue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”

(Public service message) My roof still leaks, musical events loom but we cannot agree rehersal time, I appear to be working nightshift for the entirety of summer, there are heavy things to move, and holes to dig in the garden. All situation normal, and I have little new complaint, however I was reminded it isContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”

(weights) I frequently write some throw away quip about “didn’t I used to play guitar” in my next week IaDL. So in fairness I should note that some considerable guitar playing took place. Checking back, I see that a “Clubhouse Session” was actually threatened in my list of likely events for the year, and itContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”

(Complaint) A regular reader (viewer?) suggested that I had not given a sufficiently fulsome or entertaing report on Japan. Well, let no-man say I am indifferent to audience input… Did you know that roughly 60% of Japan is forest? No, me neither. Not only that, but roughly one third of the trees are “primary temperateContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”

(Perspective) Our roof leaks. We’ve spent quite a bit of money on it with a firm of builders which I hope never to see again, (of course, they were the only game in town – after 2 years and 20+ attemps to find someone) and it still leaks. Our chimney is pronounced “Dangerous” , butContinue reading “It’s a Dogs Life…”

On the third online attempt, I get my bus pass. Your application has been declined, because – on the government website you have not been on for twelve years – your address is still in Pollok. Had they bothered to let me know, I would probably have reapplied immediately. My second application has been declined,Continue reading “It’s a Dogs Life…”

(Japan) I had fully intended to write from Japan, but, a combination of internet issues, very full days, and disinclination to type on my small phone screen, means I am now home. Travel, they say, broadens the mind. I am not (unlike lovely Chris), widely travelled, and it was indeed an education to see andContinue reading “It’s a Dog’s Life…”