In
January and February 2008 we went on another Big Trip, this time to
Libya. See Libya for our travel diaries
and pictures in time-honoured fashion. This blog entry covers the
rest of the month after we returned.
First
day back from our travels around Libya. I had already decided that I
would work from home today, as it would probably just be taken up
with catching up on tons of emails and messages. We got up and had a
nice relaxed breakfast to start they day, which at first felt more
like a Sunday. It turned out to be a bit more frantic than we had
expected though. We had been reported as “missing persons” and were
caught up in the middle of a search to find us! It turned out that
this had been kicked off because Caz had got worried about us after
having received a call from my manager at work who had expected me
back yesterday and who had called Caz at home thinking that
was our home number. This had been sparked off by someone else at
IBM who needed me to start urgently on a piece of work, for which I
turned out not to be the right person anyway. Anyway, it made a for
a mixed morning, with lots of calls back and forth, and a policeman
coming to the door to check that we really were back safe and sound.
He had a big file of paperwork with him. What I found surprising
though was the fact that the search got kicked off in earnest late
last night and they could easily just have called us at home as we
were just tucked up in bed after a long flight back! It was funny
though, and Ness found it especially amusing and of course, in true
style, couldn’t resist poking fun at Caz, as did Andy, and for
the rest of the day she kept calling her to let Caz know her
whereabouts, e.g. “I’m just going to for a walk and, as it’s a
hazardous activity to walk along the beach I just wanted to let you
know”, etc. On the other hand, I found it oppressive to realise that
our comings and goings were scrutinised so closely by work, and I
had hoped that no-one would have noticed my absence from work
yesterday. I had
totally forgotten to book that day as holiday beforehand and only realised the error partway through our trip, by which time it was
too late to do anything about it – and what could I have done
anyway, ask for another day’s leave, which I didn’t have? We had
also been rather disappointed to find that the remaining work
(cupboards, curtain rails) had still not been done, and got back in
touch with Grant to get this addressed, although we were now rather
less “stressed” about it as the time pressure was off.
Wed
13 Feb
I
think I must have gone to the office today. We may have gone to the
spa (if not today it was one of these days anyway) where it was
busy, but we had our fix of heat, steam and bubbles, and felt
wonderfully relaxed afterwards.
Thu
14 Feb
Probably worked from home.
Fri
15 Feb
At
the end of the day we took the train into town and met Mark for a
drink at the Café Royal. After four pints we went for dinner at one
of the Italian places on Hannover Street. I decided to be in
hyper-critical mode, which evaporated when I tucked into my
delicious veal t-bone steak!
Sat 16
Feb
Errands
and stuff, presumably?
Sun 17
Feb
In
the afternoon we drove into Edinburgh and walked up Calton Hill,
another spot for fine views over the city. We first drove up the
narrow lane to the top of the hill, where the unfinished “temple” of
the Scottish National Monument stands, but as parking was limited to
half an hour we drove back down, parked Eddie along the road, and
then walked back up. It was an overcast grey and slightly hazy day.
The views were still fine though, but we’ll have to come back
another time to take some pictures in better light. We strolled
around the top of the hill, with its various buildings – the tower
(name?), the columns of the unfinished “temple”, a commemorative
cairn, and a complex which looked like it should house a museum or
something. Apart from just stroll around and admire the views,
including a fine view looking straight down Princes Street, there
was nothing to do here. No café, not even a coffee stand, and it
looked as if there were perennial “works” to the grounds and
buildings, but I don’t hold much hope for it being turned into a
more “European” style people place. We didn’t do anything else in
town and drove back to North Berwick, and stopped en route to buy
some bread and cakes from Falko’s in Gullane.
Mon
18 Feb
Ness
had an early start to drive to the airport for her flight to
Brighton. I worked from home. We resumed our keeping in touch via
mobile phones routine, which I hate. Thick grey haar covered the
village and obscured all views and made it feel cold and chilly.
Bratwurst for dinner, followed by falling asleep in front of the TV.
Tue
19 Feb
Worked from home again today. Paul came and went to work on the
windows. I had another attempt at making a decent fire, but the logs
just don’t seem to catch well – the wood is dense and thick and
probably a little damp too. The logs just smoulder rather than burn.
Wed
20 Feb
Another grey day, lingering haar, which made it feel grim and
chilly. Worked from home and still felt a bit coldy. Nearly got
roped into another shitty project, a “technical due diligence” with
all the hallmarks of the kind of project I really want to avoid –
anyway, that’s boring stuff. Main thing is that I managed to avoid
it, just… My start on the Swansea project was confirmed at the end of
the day. Not too happy about it, but I have to remind myself that I
did sign up for this deal when I joined IBM.
Thu
21 Feb
Looking outside I could tell the weather had changed from the past
few days and I managed to make it out for a walk to Tea Rock, with
flask of tea, and got my fix of fresh air. Hard walking up wind to
Tea Rock, but had the “assist” on the way back. This reminded me of
why we have chosen to live here. I worked from home again today. My
new project in Swansea is now a done deal. I got in touch
with the project office and received the “new joiners pack”, full of
boring admin and policies, and made bookings for travel, hotel and
car hire. For the rest of the day I don’t think I did much really.
It passed. I did spend some time clearing up round the house to make
sure it was nice for Ness to come home to, got some flowers, etc.
The weather had brightened up from the past few days of greyness,
with a stiff wind blowing which was clearing the air. Paul came by
to put some finishing touches to the windows. Ness got home at ten
o’clock. Just before she came home I had gone out to get a curry
from the Indian restaurant and bunged it in the oven to keep warm,
and we enjoyed a late-night dinner in front of the TV before going
to bed.
Fri
22 Feb
I had
intended to go into Edinburgh to work from the office today, but
plans got changed a little and I stayed at home, again – it made
sense as I could be around to help Ness to set up her connection on
the big laptop. Ness had booked Eddie in to check the brakes. We
drove in convoy to the Volkswagen garage at Fort Kinnaird and back
in my company car, stopped off at Falko to pick up some nice German
bread. Their bread seems to be getting “spongier” of late. Maybe
they’re beginning to cater to the British taste for “plappy” bread?
I hope not. At home we had some breakfast and got down to work, Ness
upstairs and me at the dining room table downstairs. A call later in
the day from the garage confirmed that the brakes were indeed badly
worn and needed to be repaired. Strong gusts of wind blew through
the village, and some heavy rain too, which cleared away to leave a
bright blue fresh sky. I had popped out to get some tea and made a
brief detour to stand by the beach, just enjoying the views of the
foam crests being whipped up on the waves and the glorious light.
Quite a contrast to the greyness of the past few days!
Sat
23 Feb
Early
in the morning I dropped Ness off at the station to catch a train
into town, for her hairdresser’s appointment. I then drove on to
Pencaitland to meet Drew Cathill, the farmer who I had called
yesterday to collect some wood from. The wood from the petrol
station or hardware shop just doesn’t seem to burn with a good flame
and I was hoping that he would have better wood. I had called the
fireplace shop in Haddington to get the number for a supplier and
Drew was their suggestion, although I had expected an actual
supplier, rather than just a farmer who happened to have chopped
wood at the back of a field, which was what Drew turned out to be.
Still, I paid him £2 to try out a bag of his wood and then drove on
into town to get my hair cut too. Afterwards I met up with Ness in
John Lewis and we had tea and coffee and a cake in the café on the
fourth floor, with its fine views over the Forth. We drove to the
Volkswagen garage at Fort Kinnaird to collect Eddie and I then drove
home while Ness continued to do some more shopping and came home
later. In the evening we took the train into town and met Mark and
Eliza at the Guildford Arms, one of Mark’s favourite pubs. Inside it
was busy and had that typical British pub atmosphere which I have
come to dislike, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the range of
beers on offer, especially the Krušovice cerne (dark), which
even in Prague was sometimes difficult to find. Mark and Eliza
arrived shortly after us. My second beer was a Belgian commercial
beer, “Frülli”, which looked more like a strawberry smoothy. The TV
was showing France vs England in the Six Nations, and there was loud
singing along of the Marseillaise – a few Frenchmen but mostly
Scots. For dinner we had booked a table at a Spanish restaurant on
Broughton Street. At first it held the promise of good family-run
home cooking, but the food, and slow service, turned out to be very
disappointing – tapas arrived in dribs and drabs and weren’t very
tasty, the paella was burnt, and the bland replacement wasn’t even a
paella but, according to the owner, “more like a risotto”. By way of
compensation we got a freebie bottle of sparkling plonk – all I
wanted was good food, not yet more booze, and (as my diary probably
reflects) I’m beginning to despair a bit at the inability of Brits
to come up with good food, not “haute cuisine” but just food with
taste! The experience rather marred the evening, in part because of
my disapproval, although all agreed it had been rubbish. Train back
and at home we had some desert before heading for bed.
Sun
24 Feb
Ness
was keen to do things around the house to try and get the place tidy
and finished, but could also sense that I was getting twitchy to go
out for a walk and after a morning of doing stuff around the house
we packed a bag and went out for the afternoon. We drove to St.
Abb’s Head, along the eastern coast. It was windy today, clouds
racing across the sky. We followed the coast road and turned off to
Coldingham, which we passed through, with its picturesque windy
lanes, and soon afterwards reached the small car park outside St.
Abb. There was a small visitors centre, a converted farm building,
and we bought a crab roll and two cheese scones to take with us on
our walk. The walk was beautiful, cold and very windy, along the
cliff-top paths, with the North Sea on our right. I took pictures of
some of the fishing boats, of the cliffs, and further on of the
lighthouse. We reached the top of the “loop” and then walked back
along the path a little bit inland, less windy and exposed, and back
to the car park.
