Category: Driving

A more down to earth day – 6 September 2017

Posted on by Zogman

It seems like the last few days, in fact the last week have been a whirl of buying. Holidays, oops, forgot to mention that we are going on holiday! So apart from holidays, there were suites, hoovers dash cams and cars to look at, admire, assess investigate and purchase. Anyone would think we’d won the lottery. Now that would be unlikely because you have to buy a ticket before you can win and there is the downfall!

Today was more down to earth. A day to pick a drawer in a chest of drawers and clear it out into one of three piles using the KFC method:

  • Keep – It goes back in the drawer
  • File  – Find somewhere else to put it (where you can find it again)
  • Crap –  It goes into the bin. The more you can fit into this pile the better.

As usual, it’s really amazing the things you find in the back of a drawer. Things you’d forgotten about, things you knew you had but couldn’t find (previously filed!) and the things you find and haven’t a clue what they are, or why you were keeping them. After an hour of this I’d halved the contents of the drawer, filled two bags of rubbish and filed away numerous things, never to be found again. I just know that next week I’ll suddenly remember why I was keeping a 20mm long piece of dried clay in a zip top poly bag.

After lunch I started another painting. This one was of a real place it’s based loosely on a photograph of the Forth estuary at Torryburn in Fife. I’m quite happy with it at present, but I’ve a few bits and pieces to add and maybe, just maybe I’ll post it tomorrow, all being well.

I went for a walk along the canal in the late afternoon, just to get some fresh air in between the rain showers. It was too windy for any decent insect photos and the spider was the best I got. It was only when I was post-processing it I realised it was in the act of spinning its web. That’s my PoD.

Drove into salsa tonight and used the dashcam again. The video quality is really amazing. It even made a couple of ’emergency’ photos which it stores in a special ‘private’ folder. Impressed as I wasn’t actually braking hard, honest officer. Went to pay for parking at STUC and a prick was trying to talk to someone important on the phone that he had pressed between his shoulder and his skull whilst trying to feed about fifty 20p coins into the machine from a poly bag he was holding. It kept rejecting them then telling him to take his money, he kept on doing exactly the same thing again. After two iterations, I said to him that there’s a limit to the number of coins you can use in these machines. He looked at me as if to say go away old man. So I just said “Just trying to help and that’s what you get. WANKER.” I’m sure the person on the other end of the phone already knew he was a wanker, but I was said it loud enough to let them know that I knew too. I went across the road put in my £2.50 (no 20p coins were used) in another machine and came back as he was retrieving his ticket. It’s simple really. People who’s brain chip is an Intel Celeron single core shouldn’t try to do difficult things like parallel process. That’s only going end up in tears. Also, that’s what he gets for raiding one of his kid’s piggy banks to get his parking money. Just to annoy him more, I waited until he was back in his car and crossed the street again and photographed him. He’s sitting somewhere just now thinking “What’s he going to do with that photo?” No, probably he’s forgotten. Like my new dashcam, his brain chip will delete old data to make way for new stuff. You have to do that when you’ve only got 128k of RAM.

That last thought came from the tidy up today. I found a 128k memory module for a Sinclair QL (c1984). 128k what could you store on that now? A really small photo? About 8 seconds of music? Just shows how time and technology has moved on.

Salsa was great fun with the beginners starting to get adventurous with Exhibela and Exhibela Ronde. We even taught Jamie G a move we called Setenta Abaho. We’ll be teaching our own class soon!

And the winner is the Juke – 5 September 2017

Posted on by Zogman

I made up my mind. The new car will be a Juke. A Flame Red one. That was Scamp’s part of the decision and I quite like red cars too.

Drove in to Stirling today to seal the deal and sign away all my indecision. Then Scamp suggested that since it was such a beautiful day, we should go to Perth to get tea and coffee and maybe a wee bit of lunch. Seemed like a plan, so that is what we did, with a bottle of prosecco in the boot courtesy of the dealership – you don’t get that with Arnold Clark!

Perth was almost empty today. If it wasn’t for some German tourists and a wedding party, it would have been completely deserted. You could tell they were tourists because they were all wearing tartan and rotating their street map to try to find where they were. Exactly the same as we do when we’re abroad. You could tell it was a wedding party because there was a lady with a white dress carrying a bouquet of flowers. Another clue was the group of ladies with what looked like giant black spiders on their heads. Bringing up the rear were the uncomfortable looking young men in kilts, fiddling with the tight collars of their starched white shirts. Oh what fun they were all having while the photog snapped photos for the overpriced wedding album. Cynic, that’s me.

Got my tea and coffee. Lunch was in the Breizh French restaurant. Food was interesting, but nothing great. A bit expensive. After reading a few reviews when we came home, it appears that it recently suffered from a change of ownership. That rarely means an improvement and that is what has happened here I think. May go back, but won’t rush.

Drove home and enjoyed an almost traffic free journey. I think we were just late enough to avoid the rush hour at the merging of the M80 and the M876. It’s usually a nightmare around 4pm and we were reaching it around 5pm.

Tried out the dash cam. Wasn’t too impressed with the quality of the recording until I tried it on my PC laptop with an i5 processor and everything improved greatly. It appears the Intel Core 2 Duo in the Mac just isn’t up to the job. Having said that, it will have to do the job generally for a year or so yet after today’s Flame Red investment!

Today’s PoD is of three folk attempting to emulate the statues in Perth High Street. Life Imitates Art.

Don’t have any plans for tomorrow. Just counting down the days to J-Day!

Back to School – 4 September 2017

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Today was a ‘Back to School’ day for Gems.

The day started with rain that gradually got heavier as the day wore on. Since Gems were coming back from their holidays, I had to find something to do or somewhere to go after lunch. Lunch was the second helping of Thai Green Chicken Curry. I’d made the paste on Saturday and we had the first helping for dinner yesterday. I’d intended this to be a smaller portion, to use up some chicken that was languishing in the fridge and also to use up the rest of the curry paste.

It was while I was deciding where to go and while I was listening to Scamp running through some songs with them that I began to wonder … Many years ago, before we were married Scamp was working in Glasgow libraries and she sang on a recording for an LP. Yes, and LP. This was long before CDs, far less digital downloads. I wondered if the album was lying somewhere in Spotify. As I typed in the title, the associated list became shorter and shorter until it disappeared. However, I pressed the search button and Lo and Behold, there it was. I promptly downloaded it and showed it to her. Not only is the album there, but Scamp gets a name check on her track! I’ll send you both the title so you can listen to it. Needless to say it is also available on iTunes and was promptly downloaded. Isn’t technology wonderful.
Some technology isn’t so good. Today I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription. I wasn’t using Prime. Also Prime wasn’t available for more and more items, so it made sense to cancel it.

After my search through the musical archives, I had intended going to Stirling to make sure I was happy with the Juke, but one look at the weather and the queues on the M80 made me defer that until tomorrow. Instead, I went to get some glue to repair a painting. Imagine a techy teacher having to BUY glue! Unfortunately B&Q were reorganising their stock and today was the adhesive section’s chance to be revamped, so it was blocked off and I wasn’t going to get any glue today. I went in to Halfords and bought a dashcam instead. I think it will be a useful accessory after hearing about Sim’s accident. It’s busy charging as I write this. Hopefully it will go into the Megane tomorrow. After that I went to the boggin’ Antonine Centre and in The Works, I got a little bottle of PVA for £1. Bargain. I’d just spent around £100 on a dashcam, but felt really good at getting my glue for a quid!

After the heavy lunch, we didn’t feel like having dinner so it was just scrambled eggs on toast. Absolutely fine. Salsa tonight wasn’t as bad as last week. For one thing, I remembered how to do Caltec! Tonight’s moves were Caltec, Disco, Prado and Machucho.

Today’s PoD was a grab shot out the open back door during a little respite from the rain.  Watching blue tits and coal tits scrambling over the peanut feeder always makes me smile.

Oh yes, if you get a chance, search Spotify for The Streets of Glasgow.  The track you are looking for is ‘Bottling Songs‘.  Listen carefully and you should hear a familiar voice!

Tomorrow we may make that run to Stirling.

Almost Perfect – 3 September 2017

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It was sunny when we woke.

It seemed a shame to waste the (unexpected) good weather, so we drove down to Auchinstarry and walked along the railway, across the plantation and back along the canal. About half my usual canal – railway walk, but it was curtailed when the slight drizzle, less than a drizzle, more just spitting rain, became proper rain. Luckily the walk back was under trees for about three quarters of the way, so we were sheltered. Scamp being a rock-cake had decided against wearing a raincoat. I had my blue rainy coat with me like always. Its actually been welded to me since I bought it. I even took it with me on holiday. Temperatures of 35º but you never know when you’ll need a good Goretex™ rainy coat! Anyway, but the time we got out of the tree cover the rain had reduced again to spits and spots. By the time we got home the rain had gone off again. Managed to pick a few big fat brambles on the walk. Nowhere near as many as yesterday.

After lunch I went in search of photos. Just got in the car and the rain came back on. Drove round the now circuitous route to get to Coatbridge from Cumbersheugh. I was going to Parks garage to look at a Renault Clio. It was no good. Almost as low as the Megane. The salesman asked if I’d tried the Captur. I hadn’t, but it looked big and bulky in the showroom. However, he had one in the parking lot. Pre-registered with 0 miles on the clock. It looked a lot smaller when it was outside, but the seating was the right height. I almost said I’d take it there and then. Then I asked if it had a parking camera or just sensors. It didn’t have either. I’d have to go up to the next level of car to get parking sensors. Yes, I know I could get them fitted for around £200, but that’s not a factory fit and maybe wouldn’t be as reliable. We had both liked the parking camera on the Juke. So near, but maybe so far.

Today’s PoD is maybe the start of a series. I have a few ideas for the motorbike that featured in the first ‘Weeman’ photo back in 2009!

This is Loch Àiteigin  It doesn’t really exist.  I think Àiteigin is Gaelic for ‘Somewhere’.  It’s just a placemarker to make sure I’ve got an ink drawing/painting done after missing last week!

Juke & Jeans – 1 September 2017

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Today was all about the Juke.

We drove to Stirling to test drive the Juke and I was a bit apprehensive, although I don’t know why!  I drove it home and parked it, then Scamp drove it round the local roads and parked it. Then we drove it back to the garage.

Plusses +

  • I liked the driving position.
  • I liked the big multi function screen beside the speedo and stuff.
  • I especially liked the reversing camera.
  • I liked the oomph from the 1.2litre turbo charged engine.
  • The steering was positive.
  • I liked that you could turn off the ‘start – stop’ fuel saving system.

Minuses –

  • I didn’t like the analogue speedo.
  • I didn’t like the dark interior trim
  • I didn’t like that I couldn’t set the cruise control intuitively.

Plusses outweighed the Minuses. Price was decent for a new car and the deal was explained well. Most of all, we liked the relaxed, but matter of fact way this dealership worked. We left with a lot to think about.

Took a look at the Peugeot dealership again and this time we were considering a 2008. It wasn’t what I had expected. I seemed more like a standard estate car that the cross over I was expecting. I don’t think it will make it to the test drive stage. Scamp suggested we look at a Renault Clio as it is now a big car. All we have to do is find a dealership other than Arnold Clark.

Remember the jeans from yesterday? Posted a complaint on Debenhams FB page. Can’t say I was satisfied with the reply, so I emailed the complaints dept. They too provided a somewhat less than interested reply. However, we went in to Stirling and got another pair of the same make of jeans, just not in the same colour, priced the same as the pair I got last week. Got to the checkout and they came up on the till at half price. I should have queried it, but I reckoned I was due it after last night’s fiasco and Debenhams couldn’t care less attitude.

Today’s PoD is from a walk in the sunshine along the railway to clear my head after all the technology and finance details of the morning and afternoon.

Maybe going to Ayr tomorrow to see the airies! (Scottish Air Show).

Look for the Juke – 29 August 2017

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Went to Stirling today hoping for a test drive in a Juke, just to clear the air and get the car out of my system. They didn’t have one.

Well, that’s not completely true. They had lots of cars, even lots of Jukes, just none that we could take for a test drive today. We did get to sit in one and the nice lady took our details and hopefully we’ll get that test drive on Friday.

Since we were in Stirling and PC World was just down the road, we went there looking for a printer to replace the one that’s languishing in the boot of the car at present. They didn’t have one.

Well, that’s not completely true. (Does this sound like groundhog day?) They had a few printers. Most of them were for Home or Office and only two were marked Photo. One, a Canon and one an Epson. Not an Epsom as the Head of Computing at the school insisted on calling them. I’d have liked a printer that was designed to print photos, but both the PC World offerings were printer/scanners. I don’t need a scanner, I’ve got a really good one. Why would I want to pay for a scanner I didn’t need? Both the alleged ‘photo’ printers used four photo inks and one text printing black cartridge. Proper photo printers have five photo inks, sometimes with a black text cartridge. I wasn’t impressed. Nobody came near me to offer a test drive either. It would be good if you could do a test print on the printer you’re interested in buying. Nobody would think of buying a laptop without first checking how fast apps load and how clear the screen is, but you have to trust the hyperbolic manufacturer’s claims for printers. Once you get it home and find it print pictures that look like something out of Minecraft, you can’t take it back and complain. Well, you could, but nobody at PC World would listen to you. Maybe I’ll just keep the old printer and try to coax it back from the dead.

The day started earlier with me attempting with a fair degree of success to tidy up the back room. I did find the sofa that was hidden under holiday stuff. It took some time and effort, but now it has reappeared, it gives me the impetus to clean up the rest of the room. It should only take another three or four days. Ok, a week tops.

The day finished with a walk along the canal. A place to unwind and do some tidying up of my head. As you can see from the confusing jumping back and forward in the blog, I need more of this ‘head time’. Today’s PoD is a Red Admiral that I managed to grab a few photos of at Dumbreck Marshes. Then it was home for fish pie! A nice end to a day in the sun. Some things done, some things in the pipeline.

Tomorrow is to be much like today apparently and as today was warm and sunny, I’ll take that and say thank you very much.

The search is over – 28 August 2017

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Finally the search is over and a couple of suitable cow skins on cheap plywood and pine frames have been purchased! Hooray!!

Drove in to Glasgow this morning hoping to clinch the deal for a new suite. Nothing is ever that easy. We went first to Sterling in London Road. We had intended to have one final look at the suite we had earmarked, but instead we were side tracked by another one. It seemed better finished and slightly more comfortable, but was considerably more expensive. It just had to be added to the list There were now four suites vying for our attention. We went next door to DFS and decided immediately to remove that contender. Back to three again. We drove to Birkenshaw to look at number two on the list. That was easy. It was scrubbed off the list too. Now we were down to two. The original front runner and the new arrival. At least we were getting somewhere. Scamp went to look for ‘something’ in Dunelm Mills and I went to look for a replacement printer in Currys. We both met up again without a printer or a ‘something’. I suggested we go back to London Road and have a cup of coffee while we thought about the pros and cons of the two suites that were now neck and neck. While we were drinking coffee and eating lunch, I suggested we get the measurements of the two contenders and then go home to see if either or both of them would fit in the space we had. Sounded like a plan, so armed with the dimensions of the two, three seater sofas we drove home (all of this in torrential rain too). Measured the two and found that both would fit into the space neatly. It was nearly down to the wire, I think Scamp was reaching for the coin to toss when I said I thought the original suite was the best. It had been in our heads for longest, it was the price we wanted to pay and the colour was right. We drove back in to Glasgow and sealed the deal. If only we hadn’t been side tracked by that rogue sofa, we’d have been done with hours to spare. As it was, we had barely enough time to come back home with the ink still drying on the contract and have dinner before we headed off to Salsa class.

I couldn’t put a foot right tonight. Even in the first class where we go as helpers, I couldn’t remember how to do a simple move, Caltec. My brain just wasn’t working. I think I was still driving in and out of Glasgow. Once I got the start, it was easy and I could repeat it all night. It was just that start position I couldn’t get. That’s what happens when you format your brain and re-install a previous backup. New move tonight was Disco.

Today’s PoD is sweet peas. I make no excuse for yet another flower picture or indeed for yet another sweet pea picture. They just look lovely.

The sky eventually cleared this evening and apparently we are to have a good day tomorrow. Don’t know where we’re going, but it won’t be London Road or Birkenshaw.

Coffee with Fred – 23 August 2017

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Scamp saw the snail crawling, upside down, along the sweet pea frame this morning, but by the time I got my shoes on and grabbed the camera, it had reached the corner and was trying without success to navigate the cross bracing I’d put in to keep the frame rectangular and more stable. I took a couple of shots, but knew they weren’t going to work. Always better to take the shot and reject it later than to not take it and later regret not having at least a record of the event – A Zog Maxim. Later, I checked and Mr Snail had given up the challenge of the cross bracing and was making his way back across the bamboo, still upside down. This time I had him. Got the photos of the poppy, the sweet peas and the star shaped seed pods of the allium at the same time. However, I knew the snail shot was the winner.

Gave Costa’s manky Americano the bum’s rush today and had a fairly tasty Mocha Cortado. A bit sweeter and less claggy than the standard Cortado. I was meeting Fred for a chat and a chance to show off my paintings – One finished and one in the finishing stages. We swapped stories and critiques on pictures plus I got a roll of canvas from him and he got a watercolour block from me.

Went shopping for a dash cam in Halfords and found there is quite a range from about £40 to over £140. I imagine if we get one it will be mid range. They look quite useful, but so many folk on the net have so many different opinions on what’s best. What features you should have and what features are just surplus to requirements. Of course, some folk are trying to make you buy a product they are sponsoring. Do they help if you are in an accident? I’m not sure. Yes, they probably do now, but in the future when everyone has one will it just muddy the water? The jury is still out.

Came home and finished off the painting of Kotor bay with the two little islands.  Quite like it.  Heavy on the impasto though it is.  Scamp made dinner and it was an old favourite, Carrot and Chickpea Curry, which isn’t all that curry like because it’s not very hot, but today’s offering was very, very tasty. Even better, there’s some left over for tomorrow’s dinner!

The reason I couldn’t get the snail shot this morning was because I had my ‘ballroom shoes’ on. I got them years ago when Scamp and I were taking ballroom lessons. I’ve hardly worn them because they’re not the most comfortable shoes and they look a bit posh. However, I reckoned they would be better than trainers for dancing on a dance floor, so I wore them about the house this morning to break them in again. I wore them tonight to the beginners class and they do make turning a lot easier. However, Jamie G decided to do Kuduro at the end of class and I had visions of me landing flat on my face or worse still doing the splits so I chose the easier path and changed back into my trainers, just in case.
There were a lot more people in the advanced class than last week. Word must have got out that Shannon was threatening to close the class down. We’ll have to see what happens next week. Hope it stays open. It’s a bit more relaxing than Monday’s advanced as we’ve done most of the moves and feel more comfortable with them.

Tomorrow is looking like another good day. I may go car hunting.

Musical Chairs – 22 August 2017

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Today we chose not to go to the gym or the pool, but instead went looking for a new suite.

Scamp chose the Birkenshaw Trading Estate as the best place to browse for a suitable replacement for our sagging two and three seaters, but first we had to find the place. It’s no longer as simple as just scooting along the A/M8 and taking the first turnoff. Nope, since the new M8 superhighway was built, nothing is simple anymore. To get to the turnoff you have to drive on until you reach the Eurocentral exit, go round two roundabouts and then back the way you’ve come, but on the old A8 until you reach the turnoff for Birkenshaw. I suppose it made sense to someone when they were designing it, but it makes no sense to me. I was only glad I’d filled the tank before we left.

Eventually found the clutter of furniture shops all selling the same stuff, it seemed, at varying prices and with varying financial incentives. We finally settled on three front runners. Of which one was lagging behind. Scamp got fed up eventually and didn’t even bother going to Sofa King, something about the name apparently (“No need to swear.” she said!), but since she’d removed that one from the list, she substituted it with another. This was an easier drive, along London Road to DFS which is where we picked up the fourth possible contender for the Suite of the Year Award. So now we’ve got it whittled down to four suites in four different shops. She thinks we should leave it for a few days and then go again to make a final decision. I agree with that strategy, and in the mean time I’ll try to find a way round the roundabouts to get us to Birkenshaw.

We did try one more ‘shop’. This one only made bespoke suites. Yes, they did make leather suites, but it “depended on our budget!” we were told. A leather hide would cost in the region of £350 and a suite would need at least 5 hides. So, that was £1750 for the hides. God knows how much the frame would cost. We smiled and left.

Came home and calmed down with a Smokalies Base which was Skye weans talk for Spaghetti Bolognese, away back when the weans were wee. Then I declared that the afternoon would be devoted to slapping oil paint on a canvas, and very enjoyable it was too. After that and before dinner, I went for a walk in St Mo’s with the Nikon. Captured some interesting dragonfly shots, the most startling of which is headlining the blog. Prime macro lenses are such an eye opener. A must if you’re interested in nature subjects like what Scamp calls ‘Beasties’.

Dinner was a prawn and pea risotto and it was very nice, even if I say so myself. Pudding was an apple pie made by Scamp from our own apples. Even better than my risotto.

Tomorrow I’m going to skip the gym/swim thing again because I’m booked in for a coffee with Fred. May do some more painting in the morning, but I’m running low on the water base oils, so I need to get two or three somewhere. Oh yes, and it’s going to rain tonight and into tomorrow morning, so the weather pixies say.

Happy Birthday JIC – 16 August 2017

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Today is JIC’s birthday, so happy birthday JIC. Hope you had a better day weatherwise than we had!

Quote from yesterday’s blog:

“Today was a lovely day, but tomorrow is to be not so nice, so I may be doing some painting.”

That’s the way it turned out too. I did do a little watercolour painting in the morning, because I missed the sunshine by staying in bed too long. Only an hour after we woke up, the rain was on, so I didn’t miss all that much of the sunshine. After that it was shower after shower until they all merged into one big downpour.

Scamp wanted to clear out a cupboard and I ‘helped’ for a while before I got bored and went to sand down the window sills and give them their second coat of varnish. It was a strangely satisfying way to use the day. Standing painting while watching the rain pour down outside. By taking my time and not rushing, I actually managed to avoid getting stain on either:

a. The curtains.
b. The vertical blinds.

An amazing feat by my standards.
The great thing about applying acrylic staining varnish is that an idiot can do it and get good results. It’s not waterproof, and it’s not all that hard wearing, but it does what it says on the tin. It gives a good finish easily. That’s my kind of paint … or varnish.

After fish ’n’ chips for dinner we drove in to Glasgow to be met with worse than the usual Wednesday car crash that is the M8. By judicious changing of lanes and pleading looks with indicators on, I managed to get us to the STUC in reasonable time and just before the 6.30 class had started. And what caused this chaos? It was raining. As a result, there was local flooding. We live in Scotland. It rains occasionally, in fact, more than occasionally. It rains often. It’s not as if we are on the edge of the Gobi Desert, we’re in a temperate zone on the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean. IT RAINS HERE OFTEN. So why did the pinheads who designed the M8 not take cognisance of that fact and build in enough drainage to deal with a known situation? Answers on a postcard please.

First class – Beginners Week 2 was fun. Everyone was really enjoying it, even the helpers like us.
<RANT>Second class – Advanced (?) Too many with heads up their collective arses, thinking they know it all when in fact they need to do a bit more serious preparation which begins with listening to the teacher. It’s OK being a ‘know it all’ if you actually do know it, as some people do. However, it’s not OK if you simply want to show off, because then you don’t really know it all, if fact you know nothing. </RANT>

Came home and spoke to the birthday boy, which brings us back to the start.

I’ll say it again. Hope you had a great day JIC and I hope the sun did shine for you today.

Hoping for some sun for ourselves tomorrow between the showers.

Today’s PoD was a little setup I’ve been considering for some days, and nothing at all to do with JIC’s celebration, just incase you were wondering Sim! It was something I dreamed up to use when the weather was against me. Always good to have something up your sleeve.