Mental

Dad and I walked into the tiny 'Fireworx' shop in Inverurie today (highly recommended - generally online only apart from 2x 4 days of the year - guess which) and were confronted by fireworks much larger than would be permitted as hand luggage, even if explosives were allowed on planes, ranging through to smaller 'best sellers' and of course good old sparklers.
When we asked the lad in the shop about how to choose between the giant box-like ones (roman candles, apparently) and the ones that stood a metre high, shaped like a bullet, we were informed that (and please imagine the strongest Scottish accent or - if you know your regions - Aberdonian accent here) the former had 'lots ae effects', but that the bullet-shaped ones were (and lots of enthusiasm here please) 'MENTAL!'. No wonder they look as though they're better suited to a bazooka than a back garden... So, 2 'mental' ones it was.
He also elucidated that the distinction between 'cheeky cherries' and 'zesty lemons' is that one is red and the other yellow. Duh. But 'emerald fire' is 'like little fish' (?!).
Knowing little of the technicalities of fireworks, I accepted his assurance that we had a good mix of 'pretty ones' and 'ones that go bang' (that's as technical as I get) and off we went, satisfied customers with our explosive treasure.



Sure enough, the mental ones were mental, 'cheeky cherries' absolutely deserve their bestseller status, and the fish one, well, it really did look like little fish. Kind of. Even the sparklers were better than many I've experienced. Good work guys!

Mental...

Snow problem

Why do so many people still expect everything to operate absolutely as normal when we get snow storms and insane ice? Agreed, there is probably more that could be done to prepare for the possibility. But really?
Prime example: The 'huffing' guy with a flight home from Glasgow getting the train from Edinburgh that leaves him the smallest margin for getting to the airport and missing his plane because he hadn't allowed for the inevitable delays. To get on that same train I had to bang on the window from outside to hint to other passengers that it might be useful for them to move right down the train to make space for the hundreds of us wanting to join them. And then I got grumped at by the few who wouldn't budge that we had to squeeze past. Those same grumps were almost certainly the ones who, when the train stopped for 45 mins because of frozen points, exclaimed 'Could it get any worse?!'. Actually, yes it could. The heating could break down; we could be stuck for hours; there could be hundreds more passengers crammed into the 3 carriages [and now I can also add: there could be tonnes of floodwater rushing at us and washing us all away]. And that's just for starters.

News presenters are becoming more blunt with their recommendations for how to prepare for these conditions. However, we have clearly become such a selfish, consumption-obsessed society that many do not understand that 'essential travel only' does NOT in fact include their shopping trip to Glasgow or the long-awaited booze-cruise to Edinburgh. Apologies if the (quite rightly) safety conscious managers of Scotrail have reduced your precious shoe shopping time by an hour...


That said, this unprecedented harsh weather does bring out faith-restoring acts of humanity and sense of community.
The 'Longniddry 8' who, instead of standing silent at the bus stop, individually fuming at the train cancellation, banded together to glean the desired bits of information and then yakked away for the long wait for the bus.
Neighbours who shovel out each others' paths and share rides to town.
Random people who pull over to help push your silly little red two-wheel-drive over the even sillier hillstart junction.

Unexpected, unprecedented extreme weather can obviously bring out the best and worst in society, casting an incredibly honest light on its true nature.

Picture time!

I am regularly reminded or berated by friends and family that I appear to be neglecting this blog. Not so, it's just that, well, there isn't really that much of interest to write about my every day life at the moment. Or at least, anything that I have to write about I really do not feel is going to be of much interest to anyone else and will only be coming across like those awful 'status update' thingies on Facebook.

However, what I do have (and have also been told I've become more and more negligent at updating) are photos. Lots and lots of photos. As I am currently all but snowed in at my parents' place in Aberdeenshire, I shall make use of the long dark evenings to upload my backlog (as well as socialise a bit with said parents...), starting with dad's visit to New Zealand and our road trip together.

Check em out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oddballproductions/