Safely berthed back in the pool of London but no thanks to the charmers at Edinburgh aggport. Perhaps it was the close proximity the the Royal Highland Show or maybe they wanted to get nominated for the title 'World's crappiest airport' but the 7 yes SEVEN hours I spent there last saturday will certainly go down into the annals of travel misery. Ghastly lot. They make the oiks at LHR 3 look positively radiant in the efficiency and charm stakes.
I feel very much for the unfortunate foreigner arriving at the place for the first time. At least us homers are well used, in the main, to the atrocious indifference that most 'Borders' Scots take to be good service but your average charm effusing Italian or Spaniard is in for a huge shock. Poor sods. Come on, lets get up to Wallsend and start building that wall again.
Back home and I decided that in a gesture to looking more like a honed body temple than Europe's lard mountain I'd get the trusty Scott ATB out of the shed and pedal Thanet's famous coastal path. All went well until I cleared Palm Bay heading back home on the cycle path. In the distance I saw the tell tale weaving from side to side of the archetypal aftrernoon drunk, fresh out of Wetherspoons, wallowing towards me. This one was replete with similarly bladdered female oik companion and cute but uncontrolled puppy-dog.
As sure as eggs are eggs the puppy spotted me on the bike and homed in for fusses and strokes, tongue dangling and tail a wagging. Now 115 Kg of allatsea riding at the best part of 20mph did his very best to avoid collision by deft manouevring but the puppy was not going to be easily put off and in the end a full emergency stop and hurried dismount was called for. All very undignified but it got the job done and the puppy appeared to find it all highly entertaining. So too did its Stella-fuelled moronic owner who, instead of apologising for the boistrous behaviour of his mutt, proceeded to shout 'Got him' which was immediatley followed by an ear splitting cackle of laughter from the accompanying crone.
Thanet folk at their side splitting best, don't you just love them. Anyway it's nice to know that we've got a lovely socialist government that provides a benefit and housing system that rewards such heart warming and sociable behaviour instead of eliminating it. I must drop a line to Gord and Alistair and thank them.
In the Lundunn office this week, pretty busy too for once. Off to germany on Sunday to spend a week watching a giant crane being tested on its mother ship. At one point they're going to lift 2400 tonnes so I hope they've done the stability sums right. I'll check that for sure, either that or spend the entire programme watching from the liferaft station and wearing an immersion suit.