Car Crash 2 - Sudden Impact.

Who'd have thought my very next blogpost would be yet another car crash story? After 20 years of driving, and having driven all over the USA, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Charlotte, the Florida Keys, all over the Uk and the West Coast of Australia, and the whole of NZ + ridden a motorbike in Thailand, I have finally been involved in a crash.

It was the Thursday before the school October week and we were due to travel to London on the Saturday for a wee break - I was rushing away from school to do a few bits and bobs and was pulling onto a busy road when I was smacked by another car.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of who's to blame but the important lesson I learned here has four parts:

1) Always expect the unexpected (which I usually do).

2) Crashing a car is an administrative nightmare.

3) If you are going to crash a car don't wear shorts as the airbags will burn the skin and hair off your legs.

4) If you are going to crash your car don't do it so close to your school that the pupils see you in the back of the Police car getting breathalysed.

Hopefully the next post won't be another car crash story........

My Car ;o(

Last Sunday Katie borrowed my car to give her Mum a lift into town so she could catch the bus home - Hilary had been with us at the Blair Castle Horse Trials on the Saturday. (Katie's Golf had suffered some minor damage on the Saturday trying to drive through a huge amount of mud at the horse trials.)

Unfortunately, with Katie minding her own business some old decrepit man decided to run a giveway and plough straight into the Clio. Katie is alright but was diagnosed with a mild concussion after attending hospital. The old geezer admitted he was in the wrong and his  insurance company have said they won't be contesting it so that's at least a consolation.

Obviously Katie being alright is the main thing here but to say that I am gutted that my car has been written off by the insurance company is an understatement of the highest order. I will of course get over it but I had just spent £200 getting my car up to scratch to pass the MOT that I had also paid for - only a week before. And did I mention the new tyre that cost £70 that I had put on the car two weeks ago? At least I hadn't paid for new road tax........

My poor car on the recovery van.

Doesn't look like much but the whole front end had shifted over by about 15cm.

I did go to the garage yesterday to strip as much from the car as I could - including my CD changer and floor mats. But in a week I will have the hire car taken off me and I'll get a cheque.....but you can't drive a cheque to work. Major inconvenience.

Brad Pitt, Philadelphia and Glasgow.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been in Glasgow for the last two weeks - it has been mentioned that it's unusual for two people who are rhyming slang for a jobby turning up at the same time. Michael Knight has denied rumours that he will add to the group.

Anyway, Glasgow has recently been invaded by zombies - or to be more precise the film crew for zombie film World War Z. Brad Pitt stars in this and has been filming over the last two weeks, sending most of Glasgow into meltdown. 

Some of the photos below show how Glasgow has been transformed into Philadelphia for shooting - there's been a real buzz in Glasgow lately, it's been quite an interesting experience.

Whilst we are mixing up USA and Glasgow culture here are a few jokes from Tam Cowan's radio show this week with the theme being "jokes that you can only get if you are Scottish".

A Glasgow woman goes to the dentist and settles down in the chair. 'Comfy?' asks the dentist. 'Govan,' she replies.

What did the Siamese twins from Glasgow call their autobiography? Oor Wullie.

Did you hear about the fella who liked eating bricks and cement? He's awa' noo.

After announcing he's getting married, a boy tells his pal he'll be wearing the kilt. 'And what's the tartan?' asks his mate. 'Oh, she'll be wearing a white dress,' he replies.

Summer Holiday 2011

Due to the ongoing uncertainty of my employment status we couldn't plan any big holidays this year - we have had some incredible holiday moments over the last 3 years so we weren't too put out. But we did however manage to get a break down in Carradale for a week. As usual this involved a lot of relaxing, walking, visiting, eating and drinking. All of which we are very good at.

We did decide to spice things up this time with a long overdue trip to Gigha - a community owned wee island reachable by short ferry journey from Tayinloan, not far from Campbeltown. Neither of us had been to Gigha so it was quite exciting - we weren't even put off by the troops of obese Glaswegian families who seemed to have had the same idea as us.

To suggest that there is nothing to do on Gigha would be unfair - there are lots of things to do on Gigha............if you are expecting high octane exciting things to do however then you are going to be disappointed.

I am speechless in the fabulous gardens.

Katie posing with an amazing plant (whose name i can't remember but it looks like a big rhubarb plant)

The most famous thing to do on Gigha is to visit the World famous Achamore Gardens - they apparently have more species of Rhododendron than anywhere else. (Yawn) I cannot get myself excited about plants unfortunately and as such the greatness of these gardens was completely lost on me. I am sure however if you like lots of plants and trees, and possess the ability and willingness to tell the difference between them, then this is the place for you......a kind of Disneyland for Gardners.

Once we had completed the 2 hour walking route (completed in 40mins) we went for a wander around some other parts of Gigha. We were going to hire bikes but the one place on the island that rents them out didn't have any left - how crazy is that?

We went in search of a secluded beach away from the other 6 people on the island and scrambled over some rocks around the coast. We're glad we did because turning the corner we spotted a group of seals on some rocks which is always a crowd pleaser.

We walked a wee bit further, found a beach and decided to go for a swim (we'd brought our swimming gear with us). It was a warm day but the water was freezing...we waded in anyway. We weren't far from the seals and one of them jumped in and swam over towards us - thankfully it turns out it wasn't a killer seal. Quite amazing being so close though.

Katie uses the binoculars to look at the seals.

The seals on the rocks.

Katie returning from her swim and close encounter with a seal.

With the day drawing to a close and the last ferry sailing almost due we decided to head back in. The tide had moved in more quickly than we had realised and it made the return walk a little but more interesting but I suppose that's what going off the beaten track is all about, adventure!

The Gigha Ferry.

We'll be back on Gigha one day I think, it is beautiful but I'll probably take a book. ;o)

Upon our return to Carradale there was a bag hung on the back door handle - it was a full bag of prawns left by Katie's Uncle Alen. Katie was delighted but then had to spend an hour topping and tailing the still live prawns. Seafood doesn't come much fresher than down Carradale way.

Carradale prawns.

Katie and her prawns.

Check out the size of this!

I didn't eat any prawns as the jury is still out on whether I have a shellfish allergy or not. This photo however does show how much sun we got in Gigha, I was a bit burnt.

Cammy's Wedding

A good friend of mine from Uni (well the Jobbyhill football team) got married recently and Katie and I resumed our role as professional wedding guests and reviewers. Cammy and Kate got married up in St. Andrews in a fantastic old converted stable - a stunning venue.

The wedding itself was great but it was also a chance to catch up with a lot of ex-Jordanhillers. A real reunion of sorts.

A rare sighting of the shy and reclusive Bryan Nicol.

Andy Robson with Katie.

The stable dancefloor.

The wedding band were led by another ex-Jordanhiller - Ross Lothian.

Slovenian Dave from the Tartan Army - he's not really Slovenian.

Hard to believe, but gone are the days of dancing around the Garage to Brimful of Asha and pouring cheap bottles of beer over each others heads. Well, we all grow up don't we?  Do we?

Anyway, there were a number of highlights but the following stick in my mind:

1) Our outrageously overpriced and undersized hotel room in St. Andrew's. (shame that this is number 1 - but these are in chronological order).
2) Cammy's Dad and Kate's grandfather doing the service.
3) Kate is a primary teacher and had prepared little goody bags for all the kids at the wedding with colouring in books and toys - all the kids also sat at a kind of top table. A great idea.
4) Sean and Chas from the football team doing the best man speech together and Chas trying to play and sing a song about Cammy to the tune of Britney Spear's chart topper "Hit me baby one more time".
5) Me having to carve the roast at the table in a big chef's hat.

6) The next day barbecue at the cottages - a nice way to round off the weekend.
7) A wander on the Old Course in St. Andrew's.

The bridge on the 18th - the photo everyone was taking.

Katie liked the ball scoop...I don't know why.

Krav Maga

This blog isn't going to become a place for my photography work but this one is quite interesting - I was photographing a Krav Maga session last night. Krav is a defence system developed by the Israeli military and involves hitting people fast and hard. They especially like to practice defence against weapons so use fake guns. Last nights session included how to defend against a grenade (honest), get out of a hostage situation and a bank robbery. All useful stuff. ;o)

Here are some pics.....

A bunch of really nice folk who I would actually like to follow me around all the time in case the need ever arose for their skills.

A year back in Glasgow

The 2nd of August marked one full year back in Glasgow - we find it hard to believe it's been a year. Katie and I have been reliving some of our travels from 2010 and arriving at the airport and seeing family when we got home is definitely still a highlight.

We both feel that another exciting new chapter is about to start and with me looking for a new job there will be some more changes over the next 12 months. We'll keep the blog going to keep you updated and we hope you continue to enjoy it even though it's not as exotic as it used to be!

Wimbledon 2011

Anyone for Tennis? Katie and I had planned (and were looking forward to) an exciting weekend down in Londinium to watch some Tennis at Wimbledon. It's been a busy year and with all the applying for jobs and stuff it was a good way to finish the school term. Our friend Clare had tickets for Katie and herself and I was just going to wing it when I got down there.

Flights were booked and we had made plans to catch up with friends, but unfortunately about two days before we planned to travel I got a call telling me I had a job interview that was smack in the middle of our travel plans so I had to pull out. As it turns out I would have been better just going to watch the tennis as the interview was a bit of a waste of time.

Anyway, I'll leave Katie to add to this post at some point and tell you how great it all was but for now I will just put up some photos from Katie's trip. The photos of my interview preparation and subsequent disappointment aren't exciting enough to make it onto the blog.

In the meantime please try and play "Spot Big Joe" - in photograph 2 Katie snapped Joe in the crowd, now it's your turn to spot him. Joe teaches at the school I was at last year and was on a school trip - he doesn't really need describing, you should be able to see him if you look. Good luck!