Into the Abyss!

Our present Labour goverment must think themselves untouchable, beyond reproach, for at the moment they're so flying in the face of public opinion that it's almost obscene. What's more they seem to shamelessly revel in the fact! It has been revealed that Chancellor Alistair Darling's plans to hike Road Taxes are way more far-reaching than first thought, they're going to hit the public hard. It has also to be considered that the recent fuel crisis has made both the government and the oil companies an absolute fortune.

My biggest concern, and a very valid one it is too, as all of this ties together, is that hauliers are going bust daily because of the fuel prices. This has a knock-on effect, firstly, surviving haulage firms will increase their charges, and secondly the cost of the goods being transported will increase to make up for the increased transport costs. This is already evident in the soaring food prices, which to be fair are also rising anyway, because of global shortages. Expect the cost of food and all other goods to keep going up for the unforseeable future.

To get back to my main point, the government is doing nothing to get us out of the economic crisis we're spinning headlong into, despite Gordon Brown's "The economy is my main concern right now". The economy was always his concern, and look what he's done to it. I for one am very discontent and I imagine the peasantry at large are discontent too. How much of a shambles do we have to put up with before changes are made at the top. Get those fools out of there now before they ruin us all!

Oil Be Seeing You!

I've been busy working on my car tonight, had to change the oil filter and oil as well obviously. I also had my doubts about the wheel alignment, which proved to be correct upon closer inspection. There seems to be a leak near the door in the drivers footwell too, although it's not immediately apparent where that's coming from. Of course, I'm far too busy to be mucking around with cars right now, but since I'm planning a little trip away this May-day weekend I thought I'd see to the essentials. Anyway, that's all for now!

Nothing But Hot Air!

That's me back in school for a 5 week stint, although I suspect I sounded like a comedian saying that! Perhaps the comparison isn't that inaccurate, much of the job nowadays is to entertain. It's not like when I were a lad! Anyway, the education sytem is once again about to be shaken up, and I'll be caught up in the changeover to whatever new course they bring into replace the Standard Grade and Intermediate courses. The government spokesperson for education was talkling it up last week, all the bright new ideas they have, then when asked what would be replacing the existing courses, she admitted to having no idea. It's all hot air! At the end of the day, they'll have to pay a bunch of experienced teachers to write the new courses, but in such a way that all the daft government ideas are addressed.

It's true that most existing courses need a real shake up anyway, to make them nmore appealing, but what's proposed isn't intended to make them more appealing, only to place more emphasis on achievement rather than attainment. The Curriculum for Excellence for intsance suggests that students might have talents which are not assessable within a school context, and therefore, that although they might not be successful in an educational sense, their out of school success should be recognised within the school system. In other word, let's breed more Richard Branson type figures.

This is probably a welcome time of the year for most teachers, with exams coming up. A chance to take stock and evaluate how the year has gone, and to start planning for next session. Next session I'll be teaching full-time, so I'd probably better pay attention!

The Prodigal Son Returns!

Not taking any chances with this fuel crisis, and not heading down to Glenshee as I had wanted to, we instead returned to my old childhood stomping ground, and the coastal path between the villages of Findochty and Portknockie. The above picture shows 2 large free-standing rock pillars, which are almost surrounded by water at high tide. We called them the Mammy and Daddy rocks, and I climbed up both of them many times as a kid.

The approach to the village of Portknockie.

Portknockie harbour.

On the return leg we saw the Air-sea rescue guys practising their winching at the top of the cliffs.

Here's one of them being lowered down, ideal weather condition, hardly a breath of wind. It's not going to be like that in a real situation is it?

Heading back the way, looking at the East of Findochty and the Sandy Craig beach.

The Sandy Craig beach closer up

The Pumps Are Dry!

Looks like it's going to be a nice day tomorrow, but I can't go anywhere. It's going to be the first day of the 3 day strike at Grangemouth refinery. I "have" to be able to travel every day next week, so need to conserve every millilitre of petrol that I can. I had fancied driving down to Glenshee and bagging 3 easy Munros there, but I daren't risk not being able to acquire more petrol.

A tidbit of additional info came to my attention today, from an unlikely souce, but never mind. It seems that the bosses at Grangemouth refinery were planning a shut-down for maintenance and repair work anyhow. So now they can carry it out without having to pay their massive workforce for standing idle. Handy huh? What's more, the workers there have a truly legitimate reason for going on strike, their boses have plundered their pension fund. That's happened so often in this country, that if you ask me, they should be handing out lengthy jail sentences to the executives behind it. They won't though, because the government have done it too.

I'm going out for a little drink toinight. First time in I don't know how long. I don't plan on getting too drunk though, I'll save that for the end of my Univeristy course, when we're all going to go out in Aberdeen and paint the town red, just like the Dandy Dons! If the state I was in after finishing my degree is anything to go by, then look out Aberdeen!

Drowning In Debt!

I'm back into school on Monday. Unfortunately, I have to travel to get there, and this non-existent petrol crisis could cause problems. Interestingly, the local filling stations have decided that this sudden demand for fuel necessitates a steep rise in cost. After all, if people want it that badly, then they will surely be prepared to pay a little extra. The way things are going I wonder how long Brown can hold on to power. The fuel crisis is just the tip of a dangerously huge iceberg, food prices are also soaring, utilities have been going through the roof, and they've just targeted Road Tax on the most popular makes of car. It all adds up to a looming depression, I can't see it going any other way.

If I were to be cynical, I would suggest to you that the present Labour government want the economy to crash. Why? Well, if you recall, Brown has already ratified the re-drafted Euro-constitution that Blair signed us up to without giving us our promised referendum, the promise of which returned Labour to office. One of the key elements of that document, is that the UK adopt the Euro. Of course, that would have been ridiculous while the pound was the superior currency, but the gap is truly narrowing now, and watch what happens when the Euro becomes the more valued currency. Brown will have us jingling Euro's in no time, and how could we protest? Why would we protest?

If I were a Labour MP, I'd be looking to move for a vote of no confidence in Brown. After all he was the Chancellor responsible for the UK economy before becoming PM, and some would say he's still pulling the strings. He recently stated that the economy was his biggest concern, so he's almost certainly making Alistair Darling dance like his little puppet Chancellor, that's for certain. One way or another, the global economy aside, Brown is entirely resposible for this pickle that we're all in right now. There's no obvious way out, and even though Blair led us into Iraq, opened the door to millions of immigrants and thus welcomed a new wave of terrorism to our shores, those things never made the man in the street furious. Pushing the working class back into Victorian levels of financial suffering, let's see what effect that has on Joe public?

Bitten By the Bug!

Proving that any sport no matter how exclusive, can be graced on a shoe-string budget, I picked myself up a nice looking rucksack from Lidl's yesterday. I've already acquired trekking poles from there several weeks ago, which have since been essential in reaching the tops of several hills. I also bagged a Craghoppers jacket and fleece from TK Maxx, at very reasonable prices. The only things that's actually cost me a bit, were my boots, which I bought from Millet's, and even then they were reduced. The fact is that I probably got all of the gear for about one tenth of what people normally pay.

I've been asked several times already, why we've suddenly taken up hill-walking, as though it's some sort of medieval contagion. There are several reasons, but the main one originated in my reasoning that if I'm going to be a teacher (which I am), then I should spend more time out-doors when I get the chance. Climbing hills seemed like a good incentive, it's challenging, there's a goal (the summit), and I would get to see parts of the country I haven't been before.

The fact is that once we started we did sort of get bitten by the bug fairly quickly. There is a sense of achievement, which I'm sure can be had in most sports, and yes, sports do tend to be expensive. Fortunately for me, I don't care too much about brand names, and elitism, so I can quite happily show my face on any hillside, minus the Berghaus clothing, and still claim it as my own. Anyone who thinks people shouldn't be there unless they have the best of gear, deserves to be rolled off of the hill. Not everyone has cash to burn, but everyone is entitled to participate, It's called inclusion, here endeth today's lesson!

While the Sun Shines!

Managed to squeeze in another jaunt up the Bin of Cullen today. Got to make the best of it before I'm back in school. That starts next week, and there won't be much in the way of spare time then! The first photo is the view towards Buckie.

The village of Findochty is hiding in here someplace!

This is the picturesque village of Cullen, with it's magnificent railway viaduct, probably the greatest architectural feat in the area. It's not a big place, but it has history!

First Munro Bagged!

Yesterday I bagged my first Munro "Schiehallion". Here it is just after we set off (the wife and kids did it too). 1083 metres, up and down in 4 hours, pretty good going!

A familiar site on the hills, burning heather. Why do they burn it? I supsect it's to allow grass to grow, but that's just my theory!

Up on to the boulder field, the steepest part was already over with!

Look at all those boot prints. This is a popular Munro!

Wounded Knee!

I'm thinking about heading South this Sunday, to tackle my first Munro. The one I have in mind is Schiehallion, a little bit West of Pitlochry. There are plenty Munro's much closer to home, but the ones further North are all snow-covered right now, and that's not really suitable for beginners. There is also the problem of my lingering knee pain, first it was the left knee, now it's the right. Unfortunately, I have had problems with the right knee in the past, so I'm kind of hoping I haven't awoken a sleeping lion there.

Watched "The Real Indiana Jones" on Channel 5 the other night, quite interesting. It seems to be that Indiana Jones is based on real-life adventurers, although not directly as you might have expected. Instead, it seems that Lucas and Spielberg based the character on their recollections of "Matinees" that they both watched as children. These shows featured all action heroes and clear distinctions between the good guys and the bad guys. The shows were of course based on real characters, not that Spielberg or Lucas might have known that. They simply had a T.V. diet on which they thrived. So Indie is a third-hand version of a hotch-potch of early 20th Century adventurers and explorers.

I've another week or so before I'm back in school for a five week run, at the end of which that will be me, virtually a teacher, although only provisionally for the first year, but at least I'll start getting paid. This course has been a hard slog. You can tell from the drop-out rate, and even amongst those that will finish, I have heard many of them saying that they don't plan to take up teaching places after the Summer, on all sorts of pretexts. The most likely route for many will be to simply finish the course, and never teach at all, because they don't want to quit so close to the finish, but they've already decided that teaching's not for them!

Not Paying Out!

Boring day. Had to drive my son the 60 miles into Aberdeen to see the Orthodontist, only to be in and out of the surgery in a little under 10 minutes. What's worse is, I was chastised because he hasn't been brushing his teeth properly, he didn't have a go at him, he had a go at me. Short of brushing his teeth for him, I don't see how I can force him to make a better job of it. He's a teenager, everything he does is half-arsed! When you're 13 you don't care too much about your teeth, or anything other than Call of Duty 4, Halo 2 and lazing around all day. I'll give him his due though, he gets up for school no bother, no idea how he manages that, but he does.

By the way, this is ATM bashing day, because they're beginning to annoy me even more than before. Firstly I tried to get money at the ATM in the town centre here, only they have new parking restrictions in place and there were no spaces. Every single parking space is taken before 9 am, by people who work in the town centre. If they put a time limit on it, that would be helpful, but no. There are never any spaces during normal day-time hours. Absolutely ridiculous.

Next up, I tried to get cash from an ATM at a petrol station in another town, on the way to Aberdeen. Despite the notice that there was a £2 fee per cash withdrawal, I pressed ahead, because I wanted to fill up. Nothing doing, it didn't pay out. I tried twice more, still wouldn't pay out. I managed to make it to Aberdeen, where I was able to retrieve some cash from a machine. I'm starting to think someone wants to stop me having my own money!!!

Bin and Gone!

Wanted to get some hill-walking in this morning, but there wasn't time to go far, so we just went for the Bin of Cullen again, this time from the front!

It was a fine day, warm even, until we reached the top, at which point it started to drizzle.

Saw this sign at the bottom of the hill, thrown into the fearns!

Bon Anniversaire!

Almost as an after thought. This blog is a year old today. Yay!!!

Hollow Threats!

That's the assessment in at last, for better or worse. At least I didn't have sleepless nights over it like some of the other trainees, regardless of the stress I suffered during the daytime. What's more, having met up again with my co-students, everyone's saying the same thing, worst essay they've ever had to write, and that they hated it. Some of these folk have Masters too, so that tells you something. I think the Uni let us down with this one, the task was drivel, it was all very vague, and there wasn't any content to sink your teeth into. Nevermind, it could well be the last ever assessment I have to write. Why do I doubt that?

I suffered an attack of apathy reading how "Gordon Brown sends a warning to Mugabe" yesterday. Not that I'm not deeply concerned about what's happening in Zimbabwe, I've been speaking out about it for years. I just find it laughable that either Brown or anyone else in this country, seems to think that Mugabe is the least bit interested in what Brown has to say. It reminds me of Hitler and Chamberlain, except Hitler at least tried to play the appeasement game. Mugabe plays his own game, by his rules!

I was watching the U.S. Masters now and again over the weekend, and doesn't that Augusta place look lovely? Obviously a small fortune is spent keeping the course looking like that, but it is beautiful. Words like "azalias, catkins, and silver sands" abounded. Then of course there was some golf going on and good old Peter Aliss was having fun with Tiger Woods. He would say things like, "Tiger's earned his stripes" and "Tiger's prowling in the long grass". Sounded like a Frosties advert!

Lasagne Has No Flipside!

Yeah, I really should have posted yesterday, but I was up to my neck in assessment alright? Anyhow, it's done now for what it's worth. I'm not sure how confident I should be about what I've produced, I've been wrong before. I've handed in work I thought was terrible and scored high, but on the flipside, handed in what I've considered my best work, and scored mediocre marks. I think it quite often depends who's marking it, what sort of day they've had, and possibly even the time of month ;-/

It's a weight of my shoulders anyway, although I do have a presentation to prepare and deliver next week. After that, I will be able to indulge in some slight relaxation, I'll still be busy, but not under so much pressure hopefully. Some decent weather would be nice too. After hitting that Corbett "Morven" with the wife and kids in a virtual whiteout, they are justifiably reluctant to repeat the performance in a hurry. So, let's hope that the weather improves, that the snow on the hills melts, and then I might be able to indulge in a spot of Munro bagging.

I had spaghetti bolognaise for my supper, if you're interested, not with steak mince but with pieces of chicken instead. That's the way we have it, and it's absolutely delicious, believe me! Those Italians could take a lesson from us Scots, and if it wasn't for Lasagne, they'd be getting one. Can't beat a bit of Lasagne, unless it's Canneloni of course. Pure Ambrosia is Canneloni!

Beyond the Pale!

My knees are still hurting a little from my Antarctic expedition yesterday. Strange how I'm the only one who's suffering. I think it might be a genetic marker, indicating that my ancestors lived mainly in flat areas of land, or else my knees are clapped out from some of the laborious work I once indulged in. Either way, it's quite odd that I have no problem walking uphill, but as soon as I start walking downhill, my kneecaps inform me that they're most displeased with such a mode of travel!

I'm still deeply busy writing this assessment. It's pretty much done as far as I'm concerned, with just one itsy bitsy problemo. There's a Word Count limit of 5,000, with a 10% margin to play around with. I just weighed in at 7,628 words, so now I'll have to do some whole-scale chopping to get it right down to a suitable length. Given the quality of what I've written, I simply can't afford to lose marks for exceeding the stated word count.

In a few weeks time I should be finding out which school I'll be spending my probationary year teaching at. I expect to be placed locally or near enough, but it doesn't work like that. I could in fact be sent somewhere beyond commuting distance, in which case, I might have to move house. Just for a year? It's a distinct possibility. The rules are; you have 3 years to complete your probation, you can go where you're sent or go it alone, in which case it will take a year plus a term to complete. If you go it alone and fail to teach for a year and a term within 3 years, then you have to go back to University and go through a whole year's training again. No wonder people are falling over themselves to join the profession!

Snowballed On Morven!

This is Morven in Southern Aberdeenshire, which we climbed today. 871 m in knee-deep snow. Either very brave or foolhardy, you decide!

The first section wasn't all that bad, just some melt-water running down the path!

Then things started to get a bit... snowy!

The cairn on the summit. You have no idea what a slog it was to get here, now I know how Captain Scott must have felt.

Love Is In the Air!

Ah, Spring is in the air! Well no, not really, but besides the crocuses and daffodils, I witnessed another tell-tale sign this morning. Something far less appealing to witness than a smattering of flowers. "Pray do tell?" you plead! Well, it was none other than... seagulls humping. Yes, first thing that got my attention was the incessant noise they were making as I nipped to the shop. I looked up to see a pair going at it birdy style, then another pair on the next roof along, then another pair... well, you get the idea! One in... all in!

All that was before I'd even had breakfast. Not the kind of thing you really want to witness at that time of day. It didn't put me off my breakfast though... if I'd been watching it happen while I had my breakfast, well, that would be another matter entirely!

Tomorrow we're heading off for some hill-walking on a hill called "Morven" in Southern Aberdeenshire. At least, that's the plan. While it's been a really nice day here today, I've been told there were 3 or 4 inches of snow out that way. Anyhow, we're going regardless. As long as there isn't a blizzard or anthing, we'll give it a shot. Should make for some decent photos! I'll get back to you!

Increasingly Tight Contour Lines!

Yeah, so ask me how the shopping trip went. It went alright actually, although I do have a real stinker of a headache now. That could be because of the driving though, I think I have a mild form of travel sickness. Anything over an hour in a car, and I'm liable to receive a migraine for it! Of course you don't care, it's the way of the World. Obviously you have your own problems, everyone seems to have them nowadays. Funny how you never heard the soldiers in the trenches in WWI complaining, and they had something to shout about. Whatever happened to that bulldog British spirit? I actually hate it when I catch myself moaning, negativity is habitual, and it does you no good!

To be fair, I actually scored from our shopping trip, my wife was meant to be spending her birthday money, but I ended up with a few decent purchases myself. As you l know, I'm still trying to get myself properly kitted out for a spot of hillwalking. So, I got myself a jacket and a couple pairs of hiking trousers today. I'm still having difficulty acquiring gaiters though, can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. I also need a decent rucksack, I can't keep using my son's school bag (you believed that?)!

I picked up a few Ordnance Survey maps as well, looking ahead to the Summer. We're hoping to make a few forays into Munro territory then, and hopefully chalk off a few of those 284 Munros still waiting to be bagged. Nothing too strenuous or out of the way for a start. From what I can tell so far, there are quite a few that are what you migh refer to as inaccessible, then there are those which could be called vertigo-inducing. Those I will leave well alone!

Thinking About Thinking!

I've been working most of the day, it's been snowing heavily and on and off, so thought I may as well get some work done, since I've been procrastinating way too much recently. I'm not a procrastinator all of the time, it's just this damn ridiculous essay, which has to be the most pointless and yet most important essay I've ever had to write. I'm afraid to say I just can't get into it at all, I am writing stuff, but it may or may not be relevant to the question. Not that there is a question, just a paragraph of gibberish about "Inclusion".

Anyway, I'll probably spend most of this week trying to pull together something coherent, as it has to be in in a week's time. I didn't come all this way just to flunk over some pointless exercise in verbosity. Once this crap is out of the way, I'm virtually home and dry. I'll probably take a couple of days out though. The wife wants a shopping trip to Aberdeen and I want to bag another Corbett before it's business as usual again. I think I might have mentioned those yesterday, nevermind, they bear repeating!

I didn't watch Doctor Who testerday, I saw a teaser on the Jonathon Ross show on Friday, and it looked like pure dross. Not like in the old days when Tom Baker was the Doctor, now that was class. Tom Baker did for Doctor Who what Brian Blessed did for Treasure Island. You probably won't get my drift, it's just a strange wiring in my synapses, don't worry about it.

The Elgin Climate Mystery!

Snowing here again! I think it's safe to say that the climate is screwed. That's another year that we've had our Winter in March-April. Twenty years ago, it was February-March. I don't think I've seen a proper Winter, i.e. December time, since the 70's, and even then it was only around 6 inches of snow. My father tells tales of six feet of snow, back when he was a lad.

While the problem is clearly global, apparently there are some very severe contibutors here in Moray. The local newspaper had an article in it this week on the subject, which made rather odd reading. I'd like to tell you just what it was about, but to be honest it didn't make that much sense. Apparently, Moray is doing more damage to the environment than any other Scottish county, despite being sparsely populated. The article reported some scientists claims, that it wasn't Carbon Dioxide emissions causing the damage, but excess heat being produced. That was odd enough, but then it gave a specific location, the area of 99 High Street, Elgin.

I wondered what there could be in that vicinity which would produce more heat than anywhere else in Scotland! It turns out that the area is mainly occupied by an empty building. So unless, there's some major geo-thermal activity going on there, something truly bizarre is afoot, and I want to know what it is. The truth will out as they say, and when I find out what the mysterious super-heat source is, you'll be the first to know! I'd also like to know who this so called "scientist" is, how exactly he pin-pointed the source of the heat, and why the budding Sherlock Holmes having got that far, can't work out precisely what's causing it!

Nothing But Scrap Metal!

I'm afraid it's lights out for my old car, the one I put off-road on Monday. The intention was to get it repaired and sell it, but it appears that it's too far gone even for that. Seems like I did exactly the right thing, not putting it through it's M.O.T. and buying another car instead. My instincts serve me right again, although I wasn't the one labouring under the delusion that it was repairable. Now everyone's in agreement, it's no good for anything but scrap. It never was a great car, it looked alright, but was dogged by niggling problems, design faults if you ask me. But you won't ask me will you Vauxhall? I won't have another of your cars though, so you've shot yourself in the foot there!

Looks like we're set for snow here again, my fledgling hill-walking career has been severely hampered by the weather, oh wait, this is Scotland isn't it? Regardless of whether it snows again or not, I'm going to bag another Corbett next week. I have my eyes set on the biggest Corbett in the Grampians; "Morven", and if it happens to be covered in snow, then so be it. At least I shpould get some nice photos out of it. Mind you, I also have to squeeze in a day's shopping in Aberdeen, which will be harder on the feet that any hill-walk. I'm sure I've covered some torturous shopping expeditions in this blog before. My wife has a stamina for shopping that beggars belief. I'll find some excuse to duck out of part of it though, perhaps I need to acquire some OS maps, yes, that's right, I won't be able to get those anywhere else.

Going back to the hill-walking, I'm still ill-prepared. I have acquired several necessities such as maps, compass, hiking boots, trekking poles etc. but I still need a decent jacket, gaiters and a rucksack. Crampons too if I'm going to go out in the white stuff. Mind you, I'm not one for extreme cold, or extreme heat either. I think average sort of days are best for hill-walking.

Climbing Is A Mimzy!

Never managed to post yesterday, because of this:

That's Corryhabbie Hill, which we climbed, a good walk it was as well, 5 hours it took us.

The photo above is of Cook's Cairn, and the pointy hill right behind it is The Buck.

This is along the ridge-line form Corryhabbie Hill, and is called Carn an t-Suidhe. I know, unpronounceable, but the further into the Highlands you go, the more common these Gaelic place-names become.

I would have posted in the evening, but we were watching a film; "The Last Mimzy". It's the first decent family film I've seen in years, I really enjoyed it, so did the wife, and the kids. I can't recommend it enough! It was like a mixture between; E.T. , Short Circuit and some other stuff of which I can't be certain. My daughter now wants her own Mimzy, which I suspect comes with a fairly hefty price-tag, and doesn't have the powers of the film version!

Replacement Body Parts Required!

I've realised over the last couple of days, just how out of shape I really am. I knew I was a bit out of shape, because I don't do much exercise and I do like my grub. That's why the climb up Ben Rinnes knocked the crap out of me a bit. Apart from the knee, I didn't feel too bad at the time, but today my ankles' playing up, my shoulder's stiff, and both knees fell slightly abused. So, with that in mind, I'm off to ascend another Corbett tomorrow, Corryhabbie Hill (in my language - Curry happy hill), Fortunately, this one has a much more gradual ascent, and I'll be taking it easy just to be safe. At least the weather looks better this time, and hopefully there won't be much in the way of snow still lying.

That's my old car off of the road now. It's in my old man's garage. I could have left it out in the car park, but there are too many busy-bodies around here, and the traffic wardens occasionally pass through as well. It's just not worth the risk, especially when you haven't got 2 pennies to rub together anyway. The wife and kids still aren't too enamoured with the new vehicle, but it's better than nothing, which is what I was worried about landing with. I needn't remind you of the state of public transport in these parts, and besides, how the hell would I get anywhere near those hills without a car? It would be impossible!

My wife's birthday is coming up. All husbands will hate me for this, but the wife and I have a great agreement. We buy our own birthday presents, for ourselves that is. As long as it's within reason, we can buy what we want. No problems with clothes sizes, having to take the present back to the shop and so on. We're very practical in that sense. I know it's nice to have a surprise, at least until you reach puberty, then it just becomes annoying to receive an ill-chosen gift. It's much preferable to receive cash, so you can buy what you want. We've just circumvented all that nonsense. Great isn't it?