Ranting'n'Raving

does anything ever really change?

2009-09-12T08:23:00.007+01:00

Scotland got beaten and once more proved to be glorious in defeat!

Now all the calls are for the manager to at least resign, if not to hang, draw and quarter himself and that followed by some very public humiliation. I'm not too sure if we have any better, either in the managerial or player area. The sad fact is Scotland just doesn't have the talented football players to enable us to compete at a level far above our position as a small nation in the company of the giants we would love to beat on a regular basis. To compete and win at that level, as many Scots fans would love, beating sides like Holland, Italy and, I hate to say, England is precisely what we need to be doing. We were eliminated from the World Cup long before we faced Holland at Hampden last Wednesday. The world-class footballers, competing at the highest level for clubs all around the world, which we watched back in the seventies and early eighties just don't exist these days.

But, we need to move on. The weekend is here and not only that, summer has made an appearance too! About bl**dy time!

oh well

2009-09-09T17:53:00.006+01:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was excited about today's date, though many of those who were celebrating were doing so because of the pallindrome effect.

Yes today was the 9/9/9 and many chose to make this their wedding day. Maybe it would be worth it just to be able to remember it for something down the years. Once the euphoria has worn off and divorce is looming, I suppose being able to say you were wed on the 9th of the 9th of the 9th is something which will endure.

I wasn't getting married but still enjoyed that time this morning when it was oh nine, oh nine, oh nine, oh nine, oh nine, oh nine.

That's passing quickly though and the next distraction for us footie fans here in Scotland is the game tonight against Holland. A win against a much better team who haven't lost one of their seven qualifying games in this tournament so far isn't beyond the realms of comprehension.
Especially if you are Scottish!

And, now that a certain Mr. A. Murray hasn't won a grand slam in tennis (again) we need to turn our dreams somewhere!

more unwelcome records

2009-09-08T17:40:00.004+01:00

I've just had a quick look over some of the posts on this blog.

I was looking to see what had changed in my life over the last year and, as it turned out, I didn't have far to look.

There are some major changes even going back half a dozen or so. And yes, I do know those six or seven posts cover almost twelve months. I do realise how lax I've been when it comes to writing. (wrists slapped!). Anyway, I'll get round to talking about some of those changes in a subsequent post.

One thing which has stayed constant however, is the good old Scottish weather.
It's still bl**dy raining!!
I heard on the radio this afternoon that Tyndrum in Perthshire has had one of the three wettest September days on record. I used to live a couple of miles down the road from there and believe me that is WET.
Roads are closed, rivers burst their banks and road and ferry transport has been disrupted because of the weather. Glasgow had half the rainfall usual for September in one afternoon. In the past week, the Borders region had its wettest day ever. Not even the wettest August/September day. No this was wetter than ANY day, spring, summer autumn or winter!
This all came on top of the BBC weather forecaster this morning stating, "we will have some nice hot September weather today". B*st*rd!

When I said last summer that the weather couldn't get any worse I was wrong.

new start?

2009-09-05T09:00:00.004+01:00

I've been occasionally posting to my Harley blog but to be honest it's not the same as being able to indulge myself in the cynicism I could elsewhere. It's also getting to the dark days of winter and riding the bike is becoming a lessening occurence.
So I've decided to revive "Ranting n Raving".
I started by trying to experiment with a new look and somehow managed to screw that up! So, until I get a bit of time to experiment with HTML-ing the look, this will have to suffice.(got it fixed now)

I'm moving

2009-03-29T09:35:00.002+01:00

Rather than think up another "13th" ploy to try to keep this blog going I'm re-directing you to my latest venture. What may be yet another, for me, "middle-age crisis"!

My Harley and Me

should auld acquaintance...

2008-12-31T12:43:00.005Z

It's the final day of 2008.

In just a few hours it will be in the past and a new year will be under way, bringing with it the usual new hopes, plans and dreams. So maybe I should use a few words just to say farewell to the old year and pick out some of the highlights.
Or maybe not. I can't think of any personal highlights and the public ones will no doubt be written about in countless blogs, columns and reviews of the year. It is stock to write interminably about what went on during the previous twelve months.
As if only the columnists have the memory or the ability to use an internet search engine and therefore must remind and enlighten all us sleeping witnesses to the events around us.

2008 wasn't a bad year for me. It just didn't have too many outstanding and memorable happenings.
I went on holiday a couple of times and it rained. I took a lot of photographs (not as many as I would have liked as it rained a lot of the time!) and learned a good bit about the craft of photography. I did a further qualification at work, though for the majority of my time in gainful employment I was wishing I wasn't. (It's just boring and no longer challenging and I have still not found the exciting new career I believe I deserve!). I'm still living the single life. Not ecstatic about that but not grieving either.

So, as I look forward to a new year I'm comfortable that I didn't waste the last one but at the same time I'm not going to make any big plans for the next twelve months.
I'll just take it as it comes.

Happy New Year.

and finally

2008-12-13T09:04:00.002Z

It's the last of this year's "thirteenth" entries.
To be honest, the whole idea of writing on every thirteenth was conceived purely as a way of excusing my laziness.
I was getting fed up with the regime of writing regularly and so came up with a way of assuaging my conscience but still allowing me to persuade myself that I wasn't giving my blog up entirely.
Not that I wanted to do that either. I enjoy having this space on the web. It's mine and I appreciate having this bolt-hole for my thoughts. Over the couple of years I've been doing it, it has maybe moved on from the rant it was initially intended to be. Hence the title! But it is still my place and it gives me the opportunity to indulge in one of my pleasures. Writing, not complaining!
So, from the start of 2009 I intend to get back into the habit of sitting down and regularly writing something. What it will turn out to say only time will tell. What I must do is to be disciplined about it. No more lame excuses or subtle plots to try to get out of what will be hard work at times but will always end with satisfaction as the ultimate reward.

penultimate

2008-11-13T19:04:00.001Z

It's the second to last thirteenth for this year.
Winter is upon us (wet and windy), the days are short and the nights dark.
So maybe that's why I just don't have the energy to sit at my keyboard and get down something really interesting. That and the fact that my internet connection keeps slowing down and refuses to connect to certain sites.
So before I go into a huge lengthy list of why I'm not writing this time:-
Have a good thirteenth and see you next month for the final episode (for this year anyway).

just a few left

2008-10-13T21:06:00.002+01:00

Thirteenths that is.
This one I almost missed, so as I caught it late this will be just a short post. So much has happened since the last time I posted I could probably write screeds and screeds.
But, as it's getting late on in the evening I'll save it all for some other time.
So, either till then, or failing that, the thirteenth of next month, take care!

silver linings

2008-09-13T07:52:00.011+01:00

Hello on the thirteenth once again!

It's been a busy month since I last posted on here and for once the time hasn't gone by like the "express elevator to hell"
I enjoyed my week's camping in the north west highlands. The weather wasn't too bad. In fact it's probably the only part of Britain where the locals are complaining about the lack of rainfall this summer. At least the salmon fishers are! The couple of showers that I experienced during the week were just not enough for them. They were hoping for some more sustained rain to swell the rivers.

Probably the most memorable moment of the week was the little French girl in the camp-site in Applecross.
I had gone into my tent when the sun went down and was lying reading my book when I heard her voice.
"La lune! La lune! Regardez la pleine lune", she said.
So I stuck my head out of the tent and sure enough rising over the hills was the most beautiful full moon.
But that wasn't the end of it. The girl who was about five or six years old started singing. She had a lovely voice and remarkably was singing the kind of songs you would expect to hear from the mouth of a crooner like Charles Aznavour. I was sure I even heard her sing a Leonard Cohen number!

Well my holiday was over all too quickly and I headed south once more just as the north-west joined the rest of the country in experiencing a taste of the greyest, wettest and dullest summer since records began. (And we thought after last year that things could only get better!)
One thing I have noticed is that since the the beginning of 2008, there has not been a week gone by without there being at least one spectacular sunset. Every cloud has...., as they say!

Anyway, that's all fading into the dim and distant past and the realities of my boring, humdrum life are taking over once more.
Work continues to be a drag with more industrial action on the horizon. All the other distractions I use to keep my mind off the reasons I'm stubbornly single are back, threatening to swamp me and I still haven't won on the lottery!
Though I did find myself flirting, ever so slightly, with someone I met on a training course the other day. So, who knows, maybe things are changing for the better and I will win the millions that will keep me in the manner I'm sure I deserve.

But until then, here's some pics.

rainy days and thirteen more

2008-08-13T08:47:00.002+01:00

Just got time for a quick post before I head off for ten days camping.
As I'm staying in Scotland, ten days is maybe just a little bit optimistic. The weather so far this summer has been consistent. Wet! But I'm sure that it's going to change just for me.
Speak to you all when I get back.

summertime blues

2008-07-13T17:19:00.001+01:00

The weather is sunny and bright outside and I'm depressed.
I'm so exhausted I just didn't feel up to getting out and about so have spent the day lying about listening to music and relaxing and now I feel so guilty about wasting a beautiful day.
Contrary aren't I? There's just no pleasing some folk!
So I hope all you out there in blog land are having a good thirteenth of the month.

superstitions and coincidences

2008-06-13T09:26:00.010+01:00

It's the thirteenth once more. And what's more it's also Friday.

"Paraskevidekatriaphobia" seems to have its roots in early Christian neuroses about Fridays and the number thirteen but as no-one can ever come up with a definitive excuse for it, I'll continue to look on this day and all other Fridays which fall on the thirteenth day of the month as one of those numerical coincidences which should be celebrated as occasional happenings which just brighten up our lives.
I love it when I go to bed at around twenty-past ten and my digital alarm shows 22.22. Even better if I awaken at 5.55 and know I've got another hour in bed! Or the time recently, when I filled my car up with petrol and it took 19.57 litres (the year I was born). I used to have a car which had a registration plate with the same numbers as my phone number in a different order.
As I said, just coincidences but they do cheer me up.
Sometimes I really do need these little things to make me feel better as the bigger picture around me is often black.

I'm going along to a vigil this afternoon in the centre of Glasgow. It has been organised by the Glasgow Feminist Network to mark the recent murders of three women in this city. Glasgow has resurrected its reputation as the most violent city in Britain and is way down there with any in Europe.
Recently, in a block of flats two minutes walk from where I live, there were two murders on consecutive weekends and on one of those weekends another resident from the same block was killed at another location. Murder no longer makes front page news in even the local papers and often goes unreported at all.

Life's not all doom and gloom though. Summer has arrived here in Scotland after being reported absent since 2006. I'm managing to make the most of it getting out cycling, taking photos, camping and feeding midgies. (Anyone who has been to the West of Scotland in summer will appreciate that last one.) I've just had a week off work and actually managed to not think about it, slept well and had a relaxing time. Appreciating the simple things in life can be so fulfilling.

I've just sent off an application for a new job. Changing career is something I promised myself I'd do when I turned fifty but got caught up in a busy life so didn't get round to making the first step.
Who knows, one of these days I may even meet someone I can share all the good things in my life with and even fall in love again. Don't hold your breath for that one though!

I'm also plant-sitting. One of my friends has gone back home to Sweden for a couple of weeks so I've got his house plants. It's nice to have some unfamiliar plants around for a while. Having to think about taking care of his plants (I'd hate anything to happen to them while they're in my care so I'm extra conscious about watering regimes) is making me more aware of the greenery that I share my living space with. Not that I neglect my own plants. It's just that mine seem to thrive despite me taking them for granted most of the time.

So, until the thirteenth of next month or something extraordinary happens, remember the words of Meher Baba immortalised in Bobby McFerrin's song:-

"Don't worry, be happy".

Oh wow!

2008-05-13T17:20:00.003+01:00

zooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom.

That was the last month going past at an incredible rate of knots!

dream over

2008-04-13T17:37:00.001+01:00

Well even though the result wasn't what we hoped for (beaten 2-0), at least we can still proclaim "proud to be a Jags fan".

excitement

2008-04-13T09:07:00.006+01:00

It's the thirteenth again!
I'm up early on a Sunday morning, the sun is shining and there's a buzz in the air.
No, I'm afraid it's got nothing to do with spring. It's the impending Scottish Cup quarter final replay.
Partick Thistle take on Rangers at Firhill and I'm looking forward to it. Maybe it's got something to do with Queen of the South beating Aberdeen yesterday in the semi. That has probably built up a sense that the smaller team CAN win and progress.
So while expectations are running high, I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can. It may not last much longer than kick-off at 3pm.

I just wish that I could carry this excitement into my work life. Things are not going too well there.
For the past couple of years I have been involved in negotiations to introduce a Single Status agreement. (Without going too deeply into that, it's a new, equality proofed, pay and grading, terms and conditions package intended to remove long standing gender inequalities within local government.)
The first thing we did, some four of five years ago, was to sign up to a partnership agreement which was to revolutionise the way industrial relations were carried out in our authority. This was hailed as a move away from the old confrontational methods of negotiation and took us into an era of cooperation. Although the Trade Unions were cynical at first, we were prepared to give it a try and were determined to make it work.
And it did. Work that is. For two years negotiations continued. Both sides put ideas into the mix and finally something came out at the other end which was approaching acceptability.
Then management changed their collective mind. Under the guise of equalities, they changed the package beyond all recognition, slashing terms and conditions in the process and moved to present a final offer to us.
Going back to the old ways, the unions balloted our members with a recommendation to reject.
Then management showed their true colours and decided to ignore the results of the ballot and consult with individual employees. They seem determined to keep asking the same question over and over again until they get the answer that suits them. They have also shown a willingness to employ all sorts of underhand tactics and veiled threats to convince their staff to think a certain way.
So, in the space of a few months, they have gone from being a modern, progressive employer willing to involve the workforce to something which would have been recognisable back in the early nineteenth century. They have interpreted democracy and collective agreements in ways that Mugabe would be proud of.
I have been a trade unionist all of my working life. It was a huge step for me to accept working in partnership with bosses.
Now, I just feel as though I've been stabbed in the back. Betrayed by a group of people I should never have trusted in the first place.
It's depressing and at this moment I'm hoping that a game of football will lift my mood.
Time to find a new career perhaps?

Thistle 1 - Rangers 1

2008-03-19T23:48:00.004Z

The euphoria tonight when Partick Thistle went ahead in our Scottish Cup game against Rangers at Ibrox had to be experienced to be believed.
And so what if we only stayed in front for a couple of minutes? It was worth being there just for the celebrations when the ball hit the back of the net, even though I didn't see it until I got home and watched the highlights on TV.
Bring on the replay at Firhill.
In all likely-hood we wont proceed any further but tonight it was great to be a Jags fan.

posting time

2008-03-13T18:37:00.004Z

Just how quickly are the weeks going?
The thirteenth once more and Spring is in the air. Wont be long before the world outside starts to turn green again.
Of all the seasons I think that spring is my favourite. OK autumn, (or fall) if you live on the other side of the pond, has the colours. Even here in Scotland it can be quite spectacular, though I will admit that it's nothing to the beauty of the leaves turning those myriad of shades of orange and yellow that you get in the eastern United States.
It's not the spectacle that I love about spring time, more the feeling. The sense of re-birth, of things starting anew and the promise of the year to come make me glad to be alive and grateful to see another year beginning.

once every four years

2008-02-29T18:58:00.004Z

I just had to post today.
This is the day our calendar uses to catch up with the rotation of the earth. It's probably the best way of doing it. Short of gigantic sails around the globe to try to slow the planet down by the few seconds a day it would need to bring us keepers of time into synch with nature!
It's also the day when, traditionally, women can ask men to marry them.
Just two questions.
1. Why, if we must have an extra day, is it in February? Couldn't we pick a warmer time of year?
2. Why would they want to?

wherzebeen?

2008-02-13T23:18:00.003Z

I'm still alive.
Honest!
I've just been really busy and not feeling too much like blogging on here. Though, at this rate I'll only write twelve times and it'll be Christmas again.
If nothing else, I promise to try to come here, to this little space on the 'net, on the thirteenth of the month and check in and maybe do a little housework.
But for now it's getting late. I've brought work home and now that I've done as much as I can without falling asleep, it's time for bed.
Night, night.

from bad to worse

2008-01-13T09:46:00.000Z

I had decided a few days back that today I would set aside some time to make the first blog here of 2008.
After the day I had yesterday, I am in some doubt as to whether this is a good idea or not. Should I blog with the taint of yesterday's bad luck? Or should I wait another week to break this year's blogging duck? (my God, can this be the first time I've included a cricketing term in a blog?)
Yesterday started out not too bad. Apart from the weather! I went on-line when I got up and checked the weather forecast. Overnight it had changed from being bright and sunny for the next few days to more of the same wet and windy weather that seems to have been our constant companion since the year began.
As the view out of my window wasn't any worse than it has been in recent days, I thought to myself that I could easily put it aside as I carried out my plans for the day which lay ahead.
Normally at weekends I get out of bed whenever, then take the day as it comes. Today things were slightly different.
I am going to a Burns Supper later in the month. I love the Bard but haven't actually been to a dinner celebrating his life for many years. It's even longer since I've been to a black tie "do", so yesterday I just HAD to go into town and get myself a pair of trousers to replace the pair I had intended to wear but somehow had managed to stain with something that will not remove, no matter what I try.
I hate shopping and had thought that I had got things sorted by going out in plenty of time while I was off work and purchasing all the other things I need for a formal dinner. I've got the shirt, bow-tie and cummerbund and borrowed a tux. So having to go into the town centre on a Saturday was difficult, to say the least. What I needed to do was plan my journey. Get the bus, know exactly what I was going to buy and just go to the one shop and then straight back onto the bus home. That way it could be over and done with and then I could get on with the rest of my Saturday.
When I got home the plan was to have some lunch and then head out to watch Partick Thistle play Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup tie at Firhill.
That was when things began to really go downhill.
I took the trousers out of the bag to hang them up and noticed that the security tag hadn't been removed. It's one of those huge plastic and metal ones so I didn't want to try to get it off myself in case I damage the fabric. S**t! That meant another trip into town.
So just as I was trying to put that bad news out of my mind the announcement came over the radio that there would be a pitch inspection at 1.45. That was just over an hour before the game was due to kick off and such a late decision that it ruined the day for thousands of football fans. Even those who didn't have to go SHOPPING first!
I then decided that instead of going back into town I would drive to a shopping centre out of town, find a branch of the shop I made my purchase from and get them to remove the tag. Great! At least the day wasn't getting any worse.
Oh no? My car wouldn't start and I had to spend an hour chasing up some jump leads and a friend's car to get it started, then drive around aimlessly for half an hour to recharge the battery. After that I didn't think I could stay civil long enough to face going into a shopping centre so that was left undone and for another trip into town.
I could f**king scream.

Welcome to my 2008 blogging!

It's the last day of the year.

2007-12-31T09:30:00.000Z

On the radio right now, is a phone in program doing the traditional thing for Hogmanay. Listeners are phoning in telling their stories of New Year Eves in the past which were always more fun, more friendly, more exciting and when the sun always shone. Why is it most of the callers just spent their time complaining about the "evils of drink" and that these days it's "all just an excuse to get drunk and murder people"? I can (vaguely) remember New Year celebrations from my youth and they were no less, nights of drunken debauchery than the ones I hear about these days.
The main difference, I see, is that in Scotland at least, there has been a move to more organised revelries. Just part of the commercialisation of all of our festivals and only what we've come to expect and even demand from modern societal living. It's one more thing that I can opt out of and try to find an alternative way of celebrating. I say try, because to be honest, I haven't quite got there yet.
I don't drink much at all these days. I just don't like the effect that alcohol has on me. Living in Glasgow and having always mixed with a circle of friends in which drinking played a pivotal part, having to find ways of socialising without drinking can be a daunting task.
So as we approach 2008, I'm going to take just a few moments to look back over the past twelve months.
It was a year when global warming seemed to finally reach the consciousness of the popular media and from there the general populous. That probably had as much to do with the wet and windy summer we had in this country and the ensuing floods it brought. There is nothing like a ruined summer holiday to get people thinking about the wider consequences of their consumerism. Maybe cheap flights will lose their popularity in '08. Doubt it.
Scotland got a new government when the SNP came to power in Holyrood after the Labour Party had been in charge forever. There was a honeymoon which ended on the golf course.
Britain is still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden keeps on sending his vids to You-tube. A terrorist attack on Glasgow airport was foiled when a baggage handler became a have-a-go hero. Only in Scotland do we laud someone for kicking a person when they're down. (And on fire!)
Madeleine McCann went missing and her parents, in the best reality TV tradition, suddenly became celebrities. That soon turned sour and Madeleine's fate is still not known.
We got bird flu, a new prime minister but not an election. All the countries of the UK did spectacularly well at sport. OK, we ALL lost at football, rugby, cricket and almost any other sporting activity you could think of. But at least a Scot won a Wimbledon title and Scotland won the golf world cup.
The year had a sting in its tail and the closing week saw the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and chaos in Pakistan. The party fighting for democracy has decided that her son will take over as leader of HER party. Tragedy came to the sporting arena when Motherwell's captain, Phil O'Donnell died during a SPL match on Saturday 30th. The footballing world is shocked. I am affected too but more because of the coincidence that he and I shared the same birthday than through any familiarity with his talent or knowledge of his private and family life.
With that bad news, the prospect of rail chaos for New Years Eve, shooting incidents on Britain's streets and an increase in the number of women convicted of drink driving over Christmas, 2008 is making sure it doesn't pass on quietly. Wonder what the weather will bring for this evenings celebrations?

Personally though, I enjoyed 2007.
I turned fifty and with that decided to reassess my life. That hasn't meant much change surprisingly. What it did open my eyes to, is that in comparison to many I have a good life. So I don't have to spend loads of energy and effort trying to make things better. All I need to do is enjoy it!
So, roll on 2008!
Have a good New Year everyone.

the sales

2007-12-28T09:48:00.000Z

Some shops opened on boxing day. The rest gave their staff the holiday and waited until yesterday to begin their sales.
Due to a slow lead up to Christmas, observers and money experts were predicting massive discounting, as retailers try to make up their lost profits.
This in turn, seemed to bring out even more shoppers, all hoping to pick up the bargain of the season and spend all the money they saved by not buying too many gifts for their loved ones at Christmas.
Now they can indulge themselves and spend loads of cash on the one that is really important to them.
As for me? I saved thousands.
I didn't go!

it's the 25th

2007-12-25T09:21:00.000Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS

everyone

diagnosis by computer

2007-12-05T17:19:00.000Z

It's the time of year when I have my annual health scare.
I went along for my regular blood pressure check and as usual it was higher than normal. The nurse took blood and asked me to make another appointment to go back for the results and another blood pressure check.
As this often happens at this time of year, I reckoned to go back after a couple of weeks, get told that it's all OK, to keep on taking the pills and watch my diet.
So it was a bit worrying to get a letter through the door only a day or two later to say that my cholesterol was at a concerning level and that I should make an appointment, as soon as possible to discuss ways of bringing it down.
I knew there was nothing to worry about, really. But that didn't stop the nagging doubts, worming away deep inside.
I got my blood pressure checked and as I had suspected it was fine so the nurse then went on to discuss my cholesterol. She showed me the computer screen with my test results on it. She then explained how the computer calculated my risk of heart disease or stroke and that it came out at nearly thirty percent after ten years.
This was high and there were drugs I could take which would help reduce my risk but the main preventative measures I should consider were stopping smoking and cutting down my alcohol intake.
I haven't had a cigarette in almost twenty three months and need to wrack my brain to remember the last time I had a drink. So I doubt if that is considered excessive in anyone's calculations.
The nurse who took my blood two weeks ago had checked wrong boxes in two places. Thank god she hadn't checked any more wrong.
F**k knows what diseases the computer would have come up with for me to suffer from.