OM mini-meet on Bennachie

Evening from a corner of Scotland that is forever Yorkshire! (with apologies to Rupert Brooke!)

Countdown to Yorkshire Day!

Boing!

Good morning and happy Yorkshire Day!  Pishing it down here, bet it's sunny in God's Own County!

Morning. Sunnyish and cloudyish.

You know what we used to say to someone who kept saying how lovely it was in Australia/New Zealand/Scotland/anywhere-but-where-she-was dont you.... AT?!

Must have slept really well last night, but feel completely wiped this morning.

Morning. Yorkshire Day? Pah!!

It's grey and showery here, and I have a little black lab x collie stretched out on the study floor. Flower's here for the day while her people have gone to a wedding. It'll probably be her last visit here before moving permanently to Kent

Oh no Kate! Couldn't you 'loose' her or something!

Hammering down in West Wales - sometimes wish I hadn't retired! The feeling does not last long.

Plenty of dogs looking for someone like you Kate at "Many Tears Animal Rescue"

Aw, Bob, if only I could have a dog of my own, but it would be unfair given the hours I'm out (normally, not when I'm on research leave, obviously).

Odd thing happened at the gym yesterday, bloke on an exercise bike says hello to me as I'm passing, "you're a Cardiff Blues supporter", he said, "I used to stand near you on the north terrace." That's at the old Arms Park, where we haven't played for 3 years! He did a couple of seasons at CCS, then didn't renew his ticket; he'll be back at CAP next season, but nice to be recognised after 3 years!

And just started hammering down here now.

Afternoon- happy Yorkshire Day AT. You can take the boy out of Yorkshire...... (we'll make a Scotsman of him yet! )

It's funny when things like that happen Kate. I was in Tesco on saturday when a lady said hello to me- and I realised she was one of the receptionists at my Doctor's Surgery- Think I've been in too often recently!

Odd day here started off damp, dried up then hammered down with rain, then a touch of sunshine and now back to grey and dull. It's warm and close despite the breeze (which is warm too). Heavy rain is forecast for today, now I'm wondering if we'll escape the worst of it. Fingers crossed.

Work has been a bit odd too- I've been chasing a missing water cooler, believe it or not, plus having a chat with my colleagues (all 3.5 of us) about what is happening. It would appear they were trying to keep our review secret- given that the secretaries were being done, we reckoned we would be too- it's the next logical step. Apparently one of my colleagues asked directly and the reaction was 'how did you find out about that'. Sadly, it does suggest their motives are questionable. You can't trust managers these days.

I hope you find a suitable Flower substitute Kate. Perhaps you could go and visit her in Kent? You could have her cloned, but that is a bit drastic.....

Beth, hope you're feeling a bit better now.

I found this old pic of an Olympric torch. Seems to catch the spirit!

 Meanwhile I have issues with Field 'n' Trek, or at least Sports Direct. Anyone know a Fromage Grande at SD? Full story follows if anyone interested.

Oh, and hello chaps - have you all been good while I was away?

Hello Flaff. Yeah, feeling better, got some work done. Chris Townsend's Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams has arrived so I'll have a read of that in a bit.

Grumps, us be good? shirley not! If you did mail order talk to your C/D card provider or mark the transaction as fraud.... Companies seem to suddenly burst into life when they get a chargeback. If it wasn't. Ummm, google for the MD?

No, I didn't think you would have been good while my back was turned. 

 I'm on the phone to SD right now Beth: 'my call is important and I'm now no.1 in the queue!' It's about a Wayfarer meal I bought in Betys Y Coed that had been nicked by a razor. Probably by the stock monkey opening the carton to fill shelves. I didn't spot it until mealtime, alas. Decided to go hungry - never chance your luck with green chicken. All I want is my £4 back! I thought it would be fairly automatic but SD don't believe me. (Of course it's not about £4 - it's about missing a meal I'd looked forward to all day.)

So Kate's pulled at the Gym - I hope we get the full dirt on here!

Methinks Kate has dished all the dirt she's going to. She's far too sensible for that!

Good luck with SD- photograph the pack and the receipt together and email it to them. That might shift them. Failing that try Wayfarer, you never know they might give you a refund, or some free meals......

I started the process by sending them the cut packaging. I just rang them and asked them to return it - somehow I don't think that's going to happen!

Wayfarer are blameless in this affair. Any shop could have nicked a pouch while opening the box. Most shops would have made a quick refund. Alas I couldn't get back to the shop. C'est la vie.

And in other news -

Picked the sprog up from Gatwick at midnight/last night. The lads really enjoyed trekking the Alps and will want to do more. The Alps are quite big apparantly.THey also liked Rome - which isn't big - and Rimini. Lucky little buggers.

Grumps wrote (see)

The Alps are quite big apparantly

Ah, you've obviously studied geography to a very high academic level Grumps - possibly even done your doctorate in European topography?

I was in London overnight (got back this afternoon) and it is also quite big - but in a different way to the Alps, of course. Flatter for a start.Fewer ski lifts too.

Ackshully, it was really weird. After all the Cassandras with their pre-Olympic threnodies about gridlock, overcrowding, congestion and general mayhem it turns out the place is quiet as the grave! I know London well and go there a lot but, apart from Sundays, I've rarely seen so little road congestion nor as few people about in the west end. The tube was nearly empty too.

Apparently, many Londoners have fucked off on holiday while the Olympics are on, outer Londoners are not coming into town, and non-Olympic tourists are staying away because of the hyped up publicity about overcrowding and the (predicted) scarcity of hotel beds. And, because of all the ticketing cock-ups, even the Olympics aren't attracting full capacity crowds.

Many hoteliers, restauranteurs, and retailers in central London are having a very lean time of it - the Olympic crowds haven't materialised and everyone else has been driven away. Their expected windfall period has turned into a bleak trading prospect.

All in all, a real damp squib and eleven billion quid wasted.

Well, I'm enjoying the Olympics, I'm going to the footie on Saturday night, and they were queuing for the park and ride outside the pool this afternoon when I went for my spinning session. In fact they were queuing for the whole spinning session, the M4 Eastbound was clogged, and the stadium's chokka. I suspect that a number of bike shops across the country will benefit from Wiggo's exploits too.

I'm very 'bah humbug' about the whole charade. It's just a media and corporate circus run by a cabal of corrupt plutocrats with the self-interested support of venal multinationals like Coke and MacDonald IMO.

Even so, I applaud Barry Wiggins - but mostly for sticking it up the French last week.

I'm enjoying the Olympics too (quite surprisingly for me).

I'm off to a Superheroes Party on Saturday though and a Little Rascals Party on Sunday..... oooooo get me, party, party, party!  So ok,  they are for 5 year olds.... but that's about right for me!