Traffic Wardens! Hoo! Yeah! What are they good for?

I went to pick up a Chinese take-out last night and got chatting to the lady who worked there. This was in Stockbridge which isn't my neck of the woods but this lady had plenty of beef to offload (and I'm not just talking about the shredded chilli sauce variety!)

I was genuinely shocked to hear her accounts of the traffic wardens behaviour in that area over the past year. And given I had a particularly negative impression of wardens to start off with, that's saying something.

An important point to note before I go on is that this establishment is located on a particularly wide road, a road with those big black dustbins every 500 yards or so, so a car parked for 15 mins or less at the side of the road would not be in anyone's way whatsoever.

So to continue, the fastidious traffic wardens had caused the following to occur in 2007:

- Countless customers had received tickets upon stopping on the single yellow to pick up orders for collection. Even with the car in clear view of the driver the whole time and hazards switched on, the warden deemed this an offence worthy of a £30/£60 fine.

- Traffic wardens, up to 4 on certain weekday afternoons, would swoop on the area at around 5pm as this was a popular time for people to pick up food on the way home from work.

- Delivery staff for the Chinese restuarant receive parking tickets on a near daily basis. The majority of these are eventually overturned but the hassle of protesting the shop's case is one the owners can clearly do without.

And, worst of all,

- An elderly man, assessed at 70 years old, had received a ticket when he stopped outside the shop to change a punctured tyre. The poor man was shaking with haste as he tried his best to switch the wheels in time. The miserable warden refused to relent despite a small crowd of onlookers giving him pelters for his actions.

So overall, it was deeply disappointing and thoroughly disheartening to hear the woman's recollections.

Further to this, the business rates for the area were described as "crushing" and on that street alone there have apparently been numerous new shops that have had to close after a mere 3 months in business. The primary reason being insufficiently aware of just how expensive business rates are though thankfully this is an issue the SNP are well on their way to addressing.

On top of this expense to small businesses, the cost of a permit for the nearby area for the delivery drivers would be £900/year per driver. This is 11 times the rate for a domestic vehicle. Given (1) the level of would-be-customers that are not stopping into buy take-away food due to the needless parking restrictions and over-zealous wardens and (2) the exorbitant business rates, this is an expense that many shop owners simply cannot afford.

I know we need to cut down on cars in the city but this overly harsh approach to traffic offences is clearly the wrong way to go about it. The majority of Edinburgh residents are fed up with the traffic wardens' behaviour which has bordered on fascist and I sincerely hope the council will take action soon.

If these wardens have a daily quota to work towards or some sort of commission-based pay, it needs to end, pronto.

Destiny

I sit. With breath baited and a pounding heart, I await destiny to unfold.

The old besuited men, steeped in history, gnarled and wizened. Aged gladiators from past arenas, roars and cheers still ringing in their ears. They fittingly hold the key to the next chapter of this neverending tale of skill, bravery and valour.

The adrenalin rises still further. That old familiar metallic taste burns pleasantly in the mouth. The gaze lengthens and dreams dare to be entertained.

In what foreign land will our modern day matadors take battle? To which distant shores shall our drunken throng sing songs of wonder and merriment?


And suddenly it's all over:


Celtic will play........... Barcelona!

I'll Stand By You

Solidarity - sol·i·dar·i·ty
–noun,
1.
union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.: to promote solidarity among union members.



It is with some surprise therefore, given this definition, that we hear today that Ruth Black who was voted in as a Solidarity councillor has now defected to Labour only 7 or so months into her 4 year tenure.


Surely there is an arrogant duplicity at play here. Ruth stood on the Solidarity ticket (anti-Trident, anti-Iraq, pretty much anti-Labour) and now she uses the votes of non-Labour voters to slither her way into the party? Poor form indeed.


She had two choices. Stay on as a Solidarity candidate and get over what troubles this was bringing or resign as a councillor and seek employment elsewhere. Like many career politicians in the past, she chose a third way.


And as a result, democracy took yet another punch in the stomach...

God

I have to admit to being pretty taken aback when I heard that Nick Clegg, the leader of half of the Liberal Democrats, does not believe in God.

Of course, let me just restate what everyone else will say but only some will truly agree with: What religious belief a politician holds should not rule what we make of the person's ability to do the job they've been elected to do.

That said, I can't say with 100% conviction that I'm one of those who says the above and truly believes it.

Putting religion to one side, it's the man's logic that I have to question more than anything else.

You step outside your front door and you see trees and birds and pregnant women, there is air we can breathe and the temperature is just about right for our ultimately frail little bodies to survive in (though here in Edinburgh I wouldn't complain if someone turned the thermostat up just a little bit for the next few months. Though it's good to see that as a planet we're doing something about that too)

I do believe in God, though not with any great fervour. The world and how it functions is very hard to explain without one. Granted it is almost equally as difficult to explain how the world functions with a greater being watching over us given the constant and seemingly irrepressible famines and wars we see in different continents every decade.

But the crucial difference is that the world, in my eyes, is very difficult to explain with a God and impossible to explain without one so with that in mind, I will have to question if Nick Clegg has the sufficiently robust scientific and logical mind that I would require of the leader who gets my vote in future.

Nicol Stephen smells like cheese

Ok, I accept that that isn't the wittiest headline in the world and nor is it the most mature (Mature? Cheese? Get it? I'm wasted on this accountancy lark I tell you...)


The one silver lining my subject line does enjoy is its being in the ballpark of Nicol Stephen's current level of political discourse as the Scottish Lib Dem leader seeks to bring Salmond down with allegations that the SNP's conduct has "smelled like sleaze".


I don't know exactly who Mr Stephen is hoping to impress with his mock-outrage at how the Scottish Government have acted in relation to the Trump planning business but I can imagine a few groups who will be somewhat dismayed:

- People in the North East are largely in favour of the project and I can only imagine they are at the very least content with how Alex Salmond has conducted himself. They will not be happy if Nicol's actions spell the end of Trump's plan for Scotland, as it may well do.

- Anyone related to business in any way, shape or form will understand what has to be done to close a deal and surely, even if they think there was a tiny little bit of impropiety at play (which I'm sure there wasn't), the ends justify the means on this one.

- People in general are tired of childish squabbles on the political stage. Nicol is throwing a bit of a hissy-fit over nothing and so far the SNP have done well to remain focussed on the deep end of Scottish Politics rather than splash around in the kids pool with Nicol Stephen and co.


So I don't mind if the unionists want to drag out a needless enquiry for all of this. It will let Salmond continue to show how he is working to secure a big investment for Aberdeen and show the other parties up for appearing to be against it...

Barking Mad

"I'm not opposed to mixed marriages but children [of these relationships] are washing out the identity of this country's indigenous people. That's my view. It's not the party's view."


No, this isn't a quote taken from a book set in the 1700's. It was taken from a modern-day democratically elected councillor from the region appropriately called Barking.



Simply terrifying.

Edinburgh Feminists and White Ribbons

I thought I would use my humble blog to promote a couple of groups I heard about recently.

EFN - The Edinburgh Feminist Network

"We are a group of feminist women meeting in Edinburgh hosting discussion groups, running campaigns and organising all sorts of feminist fun!!"

Contact:
E_F_N@myway.com

White Ribbon Scotland -

"White Ribbon Scotland is part of the international campaign to involve men in stopping men's violence against women. Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about men's violence against women in all its forms."

info@whiteribbonscotland.org.uk

Not only are they both worthy causes but each group is in its infancy so support would be both welcome and the perfect opportunity to be involved right to the very core of what each group wants to achieve.

NB: Quotes were taken from their respective Facebook pages

Christmas Idea

Rather than buying Mothers and Fathers new smelly stuff and golf gear, buying nephews and nieces action toys and dolls, sisters and brothers CDs and books and dvds, I have decided to come up with a more valuable and important gift for each of the above members of my family.

A handmade card with the message "Merry Christmas. My gift to you this year is this card and a contribution to reversing the current credit crunch. Love, Jeff"


A tight-fisted Scotsman? Me? Not at all, I'm just faithfully doing my bit in these troubling times.


And hey, if I lump everyone together in the same card, then I'm saving paper and, consequently, the environment.


What a team-player I am.






PS Incase anyone gets the wrong idea, not only am I doing extensive Christmas shopping today but I'm also watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time to top my festive mood right up to the max.

Stop and search. Not such a black and white issue after all.

The Scotsman this Saturday has its main story screaming out from the front page in a very Daily Mail like fashion. But what troubles me more is that my take on the story has me uncomfortably sounding like the reader of that very paper that is not fit to wrap one's chips in.

But I am who I am and I can't help but think that having one's bag or body searched takes a mere few minutes and as long as the police are polite and respectful then I don't really see what the problem is.

Non-white people are targetted for stop and search six times more often than white people? This may seem like thinly-veiled racism but the fact surely remains that any future attempted terrorist attack is at least six times more likely to be committed by a non-white person.

Of course, whether stop-and-search is value for money given how rare an attack is is another question... But, beyond foolproof MI5 intelligence, it's our only effective defence if lamentable events like the tube bombings and the Glasgow Airport attacks are to contiunue for years to come.

We could have our 'bobbies on the beat' just wandering around or we could have them searching bags during quieter periods. There may be a very low chance of finding something on such searches, but I know what I would prefer our police did with their time.

And if they're going to do the searches, we might as well optimise their chances of finding something...

But then, the above only applies if the reason for the search is to specifically prevent some sort of suicide attack or terrorist reprisal for the UK's involvement in Iraq/Afghanistan. To search a non-white person for drugs or knives more regularly than a white person is patently wrong.

Some may argue (rightly or wrongly, I have no idea) that the perpetrators of drug or knife related crime tend to be non-white. The simple argument against such a mindset is that of course they will be if that sub-group of the population are the only ones getting searched!

But overall, I can only conclude that even if stop and search is a waste of time, it may be perfectly understandable to grumble but one should only complain particularly loudly if she or he has something to hide...

Word of the Day

Now be honest, have you ever heard of the word “agflation”?

In the same week that I realised I haven’t the foggiest what “happenstance” actually means and had to reconcile how the Spanish verb quedarse can mean ‘to stay’ and also ‘to leave oneself’, I was not so surprised upon realising that my fairly expansive vocabulary does not include the above word.

And yet, this agflation business, which apparently relates to the spiralling cost of food and drink in response to a similarly spiralling world population, is going to cost us dear.

It’s not so much the increased cost of putting food on the table that concerns me. I did my 4 years of living off Pot Noodles and Corned Beef and I could go back to those days in a flash if it meant getting to watch Countdown all day.

No, it seems the sharp hike in the cost of hops and barley will result in beer moving above the £4 a pint level in 2008. Maybe I’m not frequenting the coolest of bars but has it officially reared its foamy head above the £3 ceiling yet?

Either way, this is difficult news to take. Beer is not a luxury item these days. It is the golden nectar that binds us together, much like dust in the Phillip Pullman trilogies, although with alcohol you get more interesting ‘daemons’.

The bottom line is, we cannot allow this to pass. Alcohol must remain cheap to grease the wheels of society and therefore I urge, nay I beg you to join my campaign….


Keep Beer Cheap – Shoot your Neighbour

EU've got to be joking.....?

It could be charitable to say that the jury is still out on how Gordon Brown will prove to be as Prime Minister. It may however be fairer to say that with 5 months under his belt in the job and David Cameron enjoying a 15 point lead in the polls that not only did the jurors return weeks ago, but they've decided that Gordon is having a shocker.


And I'm afraid it is behaviour like yesterday's announcement that our PM won't be signing the EU Treaty ceremony that does him no favours.

Does he think we don't see what's going on? Does he really hold us all with such contempt that he has to conveniently fail to rearrange a less important committee meeting rather than sign the most important EU agreement since, well, the last one probably?

I accept there is a tiny possibility that Gordon Brown's excuses are legitimate but let's see how many of the Merkel's and Sarkozy's make it along to put pen to paper shall we.


It's quite simple Gordon, if you back this Treaty then take the lead, stand up for it and be seen to be supporting it. Otherwise you just look like a bit of an idiot, polls will plummet further and jury's will continue to be returning to their seats with solemn faces up and down the country.

The more you slither around on the subject of Europe, the more Eurosceptic we are forced to become.

A Christmas Letter

Dear God,

I hope you are well and looking foward to your son's birthday.

I sometimes wonder if you find it strange at this time of year that people celebrate Jesus being born and saving us from eternal damnation by eating lots of turkey and chocolate and being really greedy in wanting new Playstations and "wee's".

No, I don't know what a wee is either, I think it is some sort of indoor tennis racket.

Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of your time, I'm sure you are very busy of course but I just have one teeny weeny favour to ask of you if that is OK.

I see you have granted some Celtic fan's prayers wishes by making Rangers lose 3-0 in today's football match. As you know, I didn't wish for this as, like all of the other commandments, I am more than happy to love my neighbours.

So with that in mind, if you could use your almighty power to make sure that Celtic will play against Porto in the next round of the Champions League rather than against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester United then I would be deeply, deeply thankful and will always go to a church on a Sunday from now on.

I know I have made the same promise before in the past and you have always granted my wishes anyway but this time I really mean it and none of my fingers or toes are crossed. I promise.


Thank you very much and God Bless (assuming you are allowed to do that to yourself),



Celtic fan xoxo

The Red and Blue Corners

Although it is still a full year away, I’m going to stick my SNP tactical voting neck on the line here and say that the 2008 US Presidential election, the second most important cuatro-annual global event behind the Soccer World Cup, will be contested between…………


Barack Obama (with the perennial bridesmaid John Edwards as his running mate)


Vs


Mike Huckabee (with “we don’t do water-boarding” John McCain as his running mate)



Most of the headlines and chat in America has seemed to surround Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani but these headlines are generally there to give them a kicking and the supposed ‘top two’ are already struggling to keep their early momentum going. Even recent newcomer Mitt Romney’s shining star is fading to dust.


Mike Huckabee is still something of an unknown. So much so that I don’t even know if I have his Christian name correct. But from the few debates I managed to catch while visiting America, he came over as a dyed in the wool Christian who ticked all of the boxes that religious America would want to see ticked. Abortion laws, same sex marriages, church-goer, small government. Yes, they were all there in abundance. Add to this that he has the un-Bush like ability to conduct debates intelligently and with eloquence and you have a very attractive candidate. In time, the Mormon* Romney and the deeply unsettling Giuliani will step or be swept aside and I think Huckabee will end up winning the nomination at a bit of a cantor.

Incidentally, I tuned into a New England radio station’s Politics Show (hosted by the immensely talented conservative “Stephen Colbert”). This 4 hour epic was discussing a recent CNN Republican debate and Huckabee was viewed as the clear winner then. Plus his recent poll figures have increased dramatically. America is just getting to know this guy but so far they like what they see.


And then there’s Obama, the great black hope for the Democrats who is seemingly and somewhat bizarrely not so popular with the “black community”. If you’ve seen this guy being interviewed on a one-to-one basis you may share my view that he is the type of politician who we want to see running things at the very top. He is affable, energetic, intelligent, ambitious and not lacking integrity. Despite early mockings that his positive campaigning tactics showed naivety he is now overtaking the mighty Hilary for top spot in the polls. Ultimately, to coin that famous phrase, Barack Obama may well be the change we want to see in the world. Not that Americans are great at taking a suifficiently global 'world view' unfortunately.

To add to Obama’s chances, we have the juggernaut of Oprah Winfrey and her resources backing him. I don’t think I fully comprehend what a difference this may make. People seem to idolise this woman with a resolute devotion that gives the Bible-belt Christians a run for their money.

Another thing that I want to say about Obama is that he seems to run everywhere. To get onstage at debates/tv interviews, through the streets when meeting people. Maybe it’s a PR stunt to show he’s in a man in a hurry but the guy just seems to exude enthusiasm and energy at every turn.

Despite Hilary’s consistently high showing in the polls what will ultimately be her undoing is the joint ticket of Obama and Edwards. Whoever is able to convince the other to be his running mate will surely pick up almost all of the other’s supporters and money and that, as they say, will be the ball game. Of course, the prospect of a Bush or a Clinton running America for a quarter of a century isn’t going to help Hilary’s case either so it’s definitely an Edwards/Obama showdown for me.

And Obama has the vision, the momentum, the new kind on the block appeal and he has the instant likeability factor about him.


Who wins out of Huckabee and Obama?


I haven’t the faintest idea but it’s going to be an absolute humdinger of an election.






* Note: That Mitt Romney is a Mormon doesn't make the blindest bit of difference to me. Unfortunately for Mitt, the votes he is trying to attract come from a shorter sighted strata who struggle to see beyond the limits of their own faith. This was my reason for mentioning his religion.

Democracy in action?

So Martin Ford has been sacked for refusing to allow Trump to have his investment? I would liked to have seen the golf complex be granted approval but I fundamentally disagree with the treatment of Mr Ford.


I presume the further 7 councillors who said no to Mr Trump will be reprimanded also.....?

Trump Town

Politics is a shadowy business. For every big, popular announcement there is countless more arm-twisting deals and nefarious conversations driving the bigger picture forward.

The phrase “that’s Politics” can cover any number of sins.

And it is this shield of general acceptance that I think Alex Salmond can use to great effect given the calls for him to “come clean” over his discussions with Donald Trump’s team.

I think everyone knows how much Alex wants this investment for Aberdeen and his own constituency. Are we really going to think less of the man if he pushes the rules to the absolute limit to get the “correct” result?

I respect Martin Ford’s decision, the councillor who had the casting vote that ultimately knocked back the proposal. He made a difficult call when others would have been weak and not stuck to their principles. But to knock back so much investment and the promise of so many jobs in an area where fishing problems have caused havoc on whole communities? I think you’d be crazy to send Donald Trump home to think again.


I have a particular pride in seeing Alex Salmond fight for Scotland. And if he has to bend the rules to do so then so be it.

My Everest

Well, from conception of this blog in a lofty tower block in the heart of a Sydney Investment Bank office, it is appropriate that in a week of Labour pains it took 9 months or so to produce the ultimate gift of deliverance that the father of this blog could wish for.

It's been a long road, a difficult journey with many highs and many lows. I initially wondered where the viewers would come from but after faithful number crunching of electoral poll data and thoughts on the political scene, slowly but surely the numbers trickled through on statcounter and consistent recognition on the much vaunted scottishroundup.co.uk followed.

But only now can I truly say I have arrived, only now can I look into the political distance with the steely gaze of a seasoned blogger, only now can I stand on the shoulders of giants and proclaim blogging greatness.

Dear readers, today is the dearest of dear diary days as I finally, finally make it into the "Best of Blogs" pages of the Scotland on Sunday.

Screw Christmas, I'm off to kill the fatted calf.

(Congratulations also to Freedom and Whisky for sharing the page with me. Your quote may be above mine but on a day like today, I think we're all winners.)

Souter Trooper

It seems The Scotsman has a problem with the SNP winning the Scottish election on the back of a massive war chest of funds, largely financed by one man.

What exactly is the problem?


The SNP were funded legally and it’s not the Nationalists fault that Labour have had a mini-implosion financially and have had to cut back relative to other parties. Even still, Scottish Labour weren’t so skint as they still managed to spend £1.1m to the SNP’s £1.385m. The Lib Dem accountants will be scratching their heads at how a 133% increase in spending resulted in 3 fewer MSPs. The answer may of course have something to do with that guy that leads them. You know the bloke, a bit fuzzy round the edges, Nicolas something…

And anyway, we’ve known for months that Brian Souter was writing large cheques for the SNP. It hardly constitutes front page news here and now in December.


So what’s really going on here? Well, I did suspect The Scotsman was being particularly one-sided in its views yesterday on prescription charges and other stories relating to the SNP. This seems to have continued apace today. Maybe with all the negative headlines that Labour have been receiving of late the editors of the Edinburgh paper, well known for their unionist outlook, have decided it’s time to give the SNP a bit of a kicking for no particular reason.


So in the future I may perhaps have to go back to The Times to get my daily read. If only it hadn’t been Recruitment day in Scotland…

You take the high road and I'll take the dry bolk

While Nicola Sturgeon was aiming digs at Wendy Alexander in the debating chamber yesterday referring to the Labour leader’s “right to remain silent”, Irvine Welsh was throwing up an interesting tack on our right to get completely blootered on any given day.

Either situation is one I don’t feel altogether comfortable with.

I did worry that Wendy’s problems could in a way backfire for the SNP. The Nationalists just couldn’t help themselves and went for a few too many cheap shots resulting in Alex Fergusson reminding Nicola to focus on the topic under debate.

I don’t think it really matters what the crime is for one party but once the other side becomes ‘smarmy’ then you begin to take the sting out of the very problems you are attempting to exacerbate for your political foes. Taking the high road is generally a preferable route on such things. I also see that today Alex Salmond is calling for Wendy to resign and consequently attempting to keep the story in the press.

Maybe Alex and Nicola are sensing the same thing that I am, that this donorgate “scandal” has run its course and the media and the public at large are only disingenuously concerned now. Their attempts to fan a dying flame may end up making them look a bit silly.

In saying that, Labour can always have ways of fanning their own dying flames themselves. Question Time was interesting last night, a debate that Douglas Alexander had to miss due to family issues. This was an excuse that is either convenient or inconvenient depending on the severity/existence of the supposed problems. Of course if there’s a genuine issue then I hope it gets sorted quickly but forgive me my “Boy who cried wolf” scepticism on this one.


And so on to Irvine Welsh, who would prefer to see George W go out snorting cocaine and getting smashed on occasion as opposed to having an uptight tee-totalling president who likes blowing countries up every now and again.

It was an interesting take on things. By and large we have the right to go out and get a bit sozzled whenever we fancy and frankly it’s difficult to disagree with the man. Then again, we also have the right not to have our cars smashed in and the living daylights beaten out of us by random drunk morons but I guess Irvine conveniently chose to paint a rosier picture of your average Scottish drunk.

Or maybe I’m just saying that as I’ve decided to have an alcohol-free Friday for a change….

Honourable Intentions and Shoogly Pegs

Well, it seems I couldn’t resist putting some more thoughts up about Wendy’s dilemma: To resign for the sake of the Scottish Labour party or to stay on for the sake of the UK Labour party? Even Hamlet didn't have it this difficult...

Given Wendy has received seemingly unanimous support from her Scottish MSPs, her original decision to stay on has been somewhat vindicated. Make no mistake, Wendy was (and is to some extent) teetering on the edge and a more ambitious (or more back-stabbing) Andy Kerr or Cathy Jamieson may well have chosen a less loyal approach and tipped her over the edge.

As to my own thoughts on whether Wendy should stay or go, well, I thought the fairest, non-partisan way to decide this was to imagine the same situation had occurred to Alex Salmond which, let’s be honest, it could quite easily have. Given this mental gymnastics of the imagination in putting Alex in the frame, I can only conclude that Wendy is entitled to stay on.

Although there does seem to be something particularly smelly at the centre of Labour funding policy, to suggest Wendy Alexander is up to her neck in illegality would be way wide of the mark. This is at worst a little bit of greed by someone in Alexander's team and at best a silly oversight. Either of which is coupled with some bungled explanations but neither should really cause the average voter too much concern. Surely the standard of the Scottish opposition is worth more than a dodgy £950 that was never needed in the first place given it was raised for a coronation rather than an election.

So I do genuinely hope Wendy stays on over the next few weeks. I doubt she will as (1) the media loves to cling onto a story until they get their man/woman and (2) recent history tells us that the slightest hint of controversy tends to end in resignation, even when the supposed “culprit” hasn’t done too much wrong. I'm all for holding our politicians to a higher degree of scrutiny but I'm not in favour of chopping people down just because it's good fun.

Just ask Henry McLeish, David Blunkett, Patrick Mercer or Peter Mandelson what Wendy's chances are. I can't remember being particularly outraged by any of their actions though in the end they had to go. Perhaps my morals and principles are not as high as they should be but politicians in general do seem to let the media rule certain decisions regardless of what they believe deep down is the right or wrong course of action.

Wendy seems to be clinging to the line of not "intentionally misleading" anybody. And well she may as it certainly cuts the mustard for me.

Wishing someone to resign over such a technicality would tend to be a partisan approach rather than genuine outrage and I for one would be perfectly comfortable to see Wendy continue as Labour leader for the long term future.

Sad to say, I'll be surprised if she's still there come Christmas.

Genetically modified lambs to the slaughter

It seems the biotechnology company Viragen will be shutting up shop in the Borders soon. It was very recently (Feb 2007) championed by Nicol Stephen as an example of a key strength for Scottish business.

There is noone really to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs, a simple case of the research money running out before profits could be made, but it's a painful blow for the Scottish life sciences scene which has a real claim to be world-leading.

Dolly the Sheep, Biotech Research at Dundee University and the Genetics team at Edinburgh University are all genuinely world-reknowned.

It's just unfortunate that there isn't always a link between cutting edge science and transforming it into cold hard cash.

In praise of the Edinburgh Airport Bus

It may seem a rather lowly topic but I have no shame in making my first post in a long time being about the Edinburgh Airport Bus.

I had my flights cancelled at Heathrow on Sunday completely out of the blue and, to be honest, the BMI powers that be could have been a little nicer about it. The exact phrase was not "your flight is cancelled, go collect your bags and clear off" but it wasn't far away.

How and where we were to clear off to was unclear. Trains and tubes were poorly signposted with helping hands few and far between. Eventually the masses figured out where they were all meant to be going but by then the dark clouds had gathered over most of our respective heads.

So given my recent two week experiences in the States where people have courtesy, pleasantries and "have a nice day"s dripping from every pore I did receive something of an inverse culture shock upon returning 'home'.

But thankfully, Edinburgh undid all of London's poor work.

Upon setting off on the easy to locate Edinburgh Airport bus, the driver was full of information, explaining where we would be stopping en route to Princes St and what connections people would need to get to Glasgow, Stirling, Fife etc. Further to this, if we had any questions (and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I had one despite having lived here for 10 years!) then we were to just amble up to his side and ask away.

Glorious stuff. And the added bonus is that the tourists get an early treat of a Scottish accent so they know what they're in store for in the days or weeks ahead.

So I raise my new American deer-stalker to you Edinburgh Airport Bus. I just hope the EARL tram project will do as fine a job once the money is spent and the tracks are laid.

First impressions are very important after all...