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!

Snow Go!

Since it seems I'm going to be thwarted in my attempts to do any hill-walking this weekend and because I promised you some photos, here they are;

This is the Spey Bay to Fochabers road, the river Spey is about 10m to the right just behind the trees and bushes.

Here is the river, looking downstream. I believe it's the fastest flowing river in the UK.

Elgin town centre with St. Giles church at the rear.

This is the back road into Elgin. The building at the end of the road is a distillery.

This is Buckpool, where I live. I took this picture looking out over the Moray Firth, about 150m for my house.

Sing A Song For You!

I forgot to mention yesterday how fortunate both I and my fellow commuters aboard the 5:15 from Aberdeen, were, to have in our midst, some Scotland fans, quite obviously still on their way home from the match against France. When you're travelling home after a long and tiring day, believe me, the last thing you want to hear is a slurred but raucous version of "Flower Of Scotland", sang repeatedly, regardless of whether the team pulled off a great vistory or not. Clearly, they did achieve a massive win, but most of us are not in the fortunate position where we can spend the following day getting hammered.

Going back to my attempts to hire a kilt for graduation day, as I narrated to you a couple of days ago, I went back to the shop this morning at 11am, certain that this time it would indeed be open. Well, it wasn't! When it is open, if ever, remains a mystery. How the hell can you run a business like that? Now I'll have to hire a kilt from Elgin, which will make things a lot more awkward for me!

I've got so much work to do today, but I'm procrastinating yet again, as you can see. There's not really much time for blogging these days, but I do it anyway. It's a sort of diary in many ways, in others it's a mirror into my soul... maybe! Oh yeah... one of my fellow students warned me that Laserjet printers are bad for your health, something about micro-particles. I think that any worries about dying from a printer related illness should be of very little concern to someone about to embark on a profession in teaching!

Rain Down On Me... From A Great Height!

Rain rain, nothing but rain, but don't worry! Only a fool wouldn't say that climate change was to blame, of course it's climate change. But is it man-made? Well that's another question isn't it. Vastly conflicting reports on that particular aspect of it. Anyhow, it's been pouring down here for several days now, and although we're OK where we're at, I suspect others (perhaps in Elgin) could be in for a bad time of it.

Over the last 10 years or so, each year has seen greater flooding here in the UK, than the previous. Of course, in a cosmic redressing of the balance, some poor sods will be suffering severe drought someplace. Nature is indeed mysterious.

Since the waether is so bad, I spent the day re-writing my CV. The most recent version was 2 years old and things have changed quite a lot for me in that time. On another note, my daughter's school sports were meant to be today. They were originally supposed to be last Friday, but demonstrating amazing foresight, they cancelled it because the grass was slightly damp. Well you could go bog snorkelling there now!

My Italian Travels with Spiderman 3 and Umberto!

Just a quick post today, went to Elgin this morning to try and book a holiday to Italy, of course the Travel Agents were mostly closed because of the May Day holiday. That idea having collapsed like a house of cards, we headed for Inverness to watch Spiderman 3, stopping off first at my favourite bookshop "Borders", where I purchased Umberto Eco's "The Name Of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum". Should have bought The Name Of the Rose long ago seeing the film's in my all-time top 3, anyway here's hoping the book is even better. I've often stated in the past that there isn't a film that's been made, which is better than the book it's based on! Although, Gary from College would always mention The Godfather at this point (apparently the book wasn't too hot).

Well, Spiderman 3 was Ok, slow in places, but making up for it with an all-out tag-team finale of Spidey and Harry Versus Venom and the Sandman! Is it better than the first two? probably on a par I'd say!

First exam (Artificial Intelligence) is a week today, gotta get some revision in, but in the mean-time check out the video clip from Big Train, make sure and listen to the commentary. UK sports fans will definitely ROFL to this one, but it should appeal to anyone.

Fingers Crossed for the SNP !

OK, I've been watching the election results closely all day, and it's still too close to count, and the electoral system is clearly the shambles we expected. Take a look at the Scottish Parliament and you'll get a good idea why anything remotely concerning Scottish politics, usually ends up a disaster.

Although my political opinions might not interest anyone further afield than Elgin, this is my platform and I will express them, because that is my constitutional right.

I did vote for the SNP, not because I agree with probably half of their policies, but because I wanted Labour out, and in that respect, only the SNP have the potential to drive them out. The trouble with our electoral system is, even if the SNP gain a majority, unless they find another party willing to form a coalition, we could be looking at another Lib/Lab alliance, especially with the Lib Dem reluctance to allow the people of Scotland the chance to have a referendum on Independence. My cynical side tells me that it's an obvious ploy by them to get back into bed with Labour.

Anyway, I here you ask, why do I want Labour out so badly? Well, if you lived here in the North East of Scotland, you wouldn't need to ask. I can't think of a single positive thing Labour has done for me since devolution. There are many negatives though, too many:

• I now owe £13,000 in loans and fees for educating myself.
• I haven't had an NHS dentist for 4 years. My last dentist was a South African, who went private as soon as he was able. I can't afford private treatment, so I don't get any. Welcome to the Third World !
• The road infrastructure here is probably 30 years out-of-date and public transport is expensive, occasional and fairly inaccessble!
• My country is involved in at least 2 pointless wars, which have no support by the people and we're losing badly!
• There are no jobs here, what few jobs there were have been filled by immigrant workers, prepared to work for the minimum wage (sometimes less), and this in turn has driven wages down also!
• Bizzarely, last year, although a full-time student with a wife and 2 kids, my student loans were considered by the Council to be income, and I had to pay full rent and council-tax, wtf?

These are my grievances with Labour! I don't know what a SNP in majority will do for this country, but even if it's only enough to give Labour a fright, that will do for me!