Category: Glasgow

A frustrating day – 14 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp gave me a lift to the station this morning.

I was hoping to get a solution to my problem of squeezing my Android data into the new iPhone. I headed straight to the Apple shop and got my first let down. I spoke to the ‘greeter’ at the shop and was told that they didn’t actually do transitions between Android and Apple. The reason she gave was that they weren’t allowed by law to work with third party equipment, or words to that effect.

I told her I wasn’t impressed much with Apple, since they proudly state that they made the software for the changeover, but weren’t willing to help with its use. She checked with her manager and he confirmed that. My hopes of an easy answer were gone.

I left and went to get my hair cut. A wee old man in a long white ankle length coat, like Muslim men wear, asked me for directions to the Bank of Scotland and I said I was going that way and told him I’d walk with him up to Sauchiehall Street. He looked as if he was very tired and walked quite slowly. Eventually we walked up to the top of West Nile Street and I pointed out the bank. He thanked me and crossed the road to it. That was my good turn for the day.

I got my hair cut and told my tale of woe to the barber who didn’t sympathise with me but told me that was just how business was done these days. I paid him and went for a spot of lunch and thought about what he’d said and was heading for the train when I spoke to Scamp and she agreed with the barber.

That made me think again and I went for a walk to clear my head, then phoned Scamp again and told her I would get a later train, then went back to the Apple shop and apologised to the manager for being a hot headed eejit and he explained what I was doing wrong with the attempted transfer of data.

I took him at his word, phoned Scamp and to get a lift back to civilisation and did what the bloke in the Apple shop had said. This time doing it by his method. The last time the transfer took about two minutes maximum. This time it took about 45 minutes, but almost everything transferred without a problem.

The only thing missing was the emails. They needed to be installed separately and individually. There were only four of them, but even after working at it for three or four hours, I’m no further forward. I may have to go to that Apple shop again to have it explained to me.

A frustrating day, I said. It certainly was, for me.

PoD was a photo taken in Queen Street Station. I liked the light in there.

Tomorrow, Scamp may be going out with the rest of the Witches. I might go back into Glasgow for another tutorial. I’m sure it’s something simple I’m missing.

Decision made – 11 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

I’ve hummed and hawed for weeks now, but today I made my decision and, of course, immediately regretted it.

We drove to the station and just missed the Glasgow train. Worse still, the next one was cancelled, so we sat in the barely heated waiting room and did what it was intended for, we waited. I expected the train to be mobbed. Folk rammed into the vestibule and the remainder standing on each other’s toes along the carriage, but no. There were plenty seats, we had our pick of them. Scotland knows how to run a railroad!

Once we arrived in Glasgow we headed to the Apple shop in Buchanan Street, but not before I took one three photos of the crowds coming and going on that wide retail avenue, just to make sure the 365 didn’t die off completely. One of the three made PoD. In the shop I buttonholed the bloke I’d been talking to last week. I know he probably wouldn’t remember me, but just in case he was on commission, I gave him a description of the phone I wanted and paid for it there and then. An iPhone 15 with 256GB of space on it was mine. A blue one, but a very weak, watered down blue.

We went to Cafe Nero for coffee and a pastry each to celebrate and in the process, missed the next train home. Another half hour late, because the next one was cancelled too! It was so cold that I encouraged Scamp to walk along with me into Buchanan Galleries to at least be warm while we waited for the train. Queen Street station was freezing.

The train arrived, we jumped on and were swiftly taken to Croy. Then and drove home via M&S. Dinner tonight was the remainder of the soup from earlier in the week.

After dinner, I started into charging the new iPhone and that’s where things got a bit tricky. I managed to get the phone charged, and I even went as far as to get it looking like a phone, but the problems started when I tried to install the data from my android phone. The iPhone refused to see it and it wasn’t until later in the evening I discovered that it can only be done on a completely empty phone, in other words, I had to return the iPhone to Factory Settings, losing all the work I’d done. I decided to do the reset and leave it there until tomorrow, In fact I left the blog until tomorrow as you’ve probably realised by now.

Tomorrow is another day and we’re both off to Hairmyres to get my eye examined by a consultant. It seems there is a bit of swelling that needs looked at.

No iPhones will be fiddled with until we get back.

A day for a blether – 9 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

I drove in to Glasgow in the late morning to meet Alex. It looked cold, and it was with the temperature down below zero.

The first space I could get into was up on the seventh floor of the Buchanan Galleries, nosebleed zone. There was a lovely view across Glasgow, but blocked with heavy wire netting, just in case someone would attempt a swan dive into the concrete below. I took the lift down, not wanting to knacker my knees walking down twenty odd flights of stairs.

I found Alex with a nice new crewcut waiting for me in the bus station. We waked around the corner because he wanted to take some photos of the Pavilion Theatre with the low sunlight just glancing off it. I’d tried and failed to photograph this old building in the past, so instead I watched him try.

Next stop was Caffè Nero for our morning coffee which I admit we lingered over for a while, not wanting to face the cold breeze outside ad also discussing computers and monitors. Next stop was Guitar Guitar in Argyle Street, away at the far end of Argyle Street. There seemed to be two guitars on his list, but both were electric and although I did get a chance to test my G, F and C chords, it still felt clumsy and heavy. Do you know, I’ve just realised that was the first time I ever played (slight exaggeration “played” an electric guitar! I’ve had a few acoustic guitars, but never an electric. He settled for a Les Paul copy, although I’d have chosen the Sunburst, even if the balance felt all wrong.

We walked back along Argyle Street, because now it was almost lunch time and we were heading to Paesano for a pizza. Another opportunity for a blether and to stay in the warm. We both agreed they were both lovely pizzas.

Alex wanted to photograph the sparkly lights around the GOMA and I was in agreement. I got a couple of decent shots, of the buildings with the warm light from the setting sun providing the warm colour of the surrounding buildings.

Another coffee before we were done, then we went our separate ways, me to get a cabbage for Scamp to add to her Minestrone soup and Alex to get the bus home.

The soup was lovely, warming and filling with added pasta. I didn’t think I was hungry, but of course a plate of soup is difficult to refuse!

I spoke to Hazy afterward as promised and she gave me loads of information that, like Alex’s knowledge of monitors left me with more questions than answers, but it did point me in the right direction. I think I’ve made my mind up Hazy. iPhone 15 with 128GB. That may change tomorrow, but it’s where I am tonight.

We have no plans for tomorrow at present, but looks like another cold night. Only -3.3ºc just now.

 

Window Shopping – 8 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We drove in to Glasgow on a cold, bright winter’s day.

We were going window shopping, both of us. Scamp was looking for a new fridge, big enough to hold all the foodstuffs we usually keep in our fridge, but not so big that she wouldn’t be able to reach the very top shelf. There were very few in John Lewis that fitted the bill, but we did find one or two.

The other thing she had her eye on was a new freezer. She didn’t think my idea of a wooden box in the garden would work, even if it is plenty cold enough for it to work. Freezers were a bit easier to find. We saw quite a lot of ‘under counter’ ones. This was the first serious look for one. We’ll probably try one of the larger Curry’s stores next week.

My search was for an iPhone. Maybe an iPhone 15 or maybe a 16. I want one that’s a fair bit smaller than my present Samsung which I feel is too clumsy. To be honest, I’ve never liked it since I got it. I tried a couple out in John Lewis and they did feel very neat and the screens were clear. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to speak to an expert (Hazy) tomorrow.

Then I walked down to the Apple shop and spoke to one of the assistants there about a new iMac. My eight year old iMac is definitely not working to its optimum. I got a few ideas from him, but I’m still not sure whether to get a complete replacement, basically the same as the one I have, but with seven or eight years of upgrades in it, plus more memory. My other option is to get a tiny wee box, a Mac Mini and a separate monitor. I’ve read a few reviews of the monitors online and none of them were very complimentary. Either way, it’s a lot of money to spend.

We had a scone and a cup of coffee for lunch in a seat that Scamp had carefully chosen to get a view from the Royal Concert Hall all the way up to the shambles they have made of Sauchiehall Street. It really is an eyesore. I managed to get a few shots from there of folk sitting having lunch on the steps of the concert hall. They must have been freezing.

We drove home and watched the final of this year’s Christmas University Challenge. The wrong team won. The other lot were better.

Hopefully meeting Alex tomorrow for a wander round Glasgow. That would make it my second in two days! Hope it’s not too cold!

Another early rise – 11 December 2024

Posted on by Zogman

This time it was just me who was rising early. Heading for the 10.14am bus to Glasgow.

I met Alex at the bus station as agreed, just exactly at 11am. We were adventurous today and went to an old Nero for a coffee and to plan our day. After we were finished I tapped a lady on the shoulder and told her she could steal. She’d asked me a few minutes earlier if she could have our seats and I said we’d leave them for her when we finished. I headed for the toilet, but all of them were full, so I went back and tapped her on the shoulder and told her and her mother(?) that they could steal our seats. They thanked us as we left.

Alex was looking for a down jacket like mine and I told him I’d show him it in Tiso in Buchanan Street, so we had a wander through the shop and I do believe he may be writing a letter to Santa as I’m sitting writing this to you. While we were in the shop, I saw a lovely pair of gloves. Light as a feather as befits a pair of gloves stuffed with feathers and they were only £60! I liked them, but not that much.

We walked down to St Enoch’s to see if the stalls were worth photographing. They weren’t, so it was a quick walk around them and then along Argyle Street as far as M&S where I got a pair of underwear while Alex was photographing the “Star Tunnel”. Not its real name, but close. Two ladies (different ladies) were walking past and one said to the other “Would you look at that! The place is falling to pieces and they waste money building a thing like that!!” I had to agree. A lot of time, energy timber and electronics for something that would be torn down in a month, if it hasn’t been vandalised before that.

By now it was lunch time, or thereabouts, so we walked along to Paesano where we both had a pizza Number 3 Anchovy and Olive.

I went to Cass Art to get some charcoal pencils to test out a sketching method I’d seen on the Sky Arts program on TV. Alex went for a wander in the gallery but came away saying it was all about Collage which never interested either of us. By the time we’d walked up Miller Street, the temperature was dropping and so was the light level, so the coloured lights of the Roundabouts and Big Wheel were beginning to be worth a shot of two. The newest attraction whose name I now forget, consisted of a gigantic glowing square column with a four sided set of chairs for those of an adventurous disposition to sit in and be winched up to the top before a disembodied voice called out 5 – 4 -3 – 2 – 1 ZERO and the whole set of chairs dropped like a stone, accelerating downwards 9.81 meters per second, per second, before even more rapid deceleration pulled it safely to a halt. We didn’t go on it, surprisingly!

About an hour later I’d had enough and told Alex so and headed for the bus. Later he sent me a message to say that he’d stayed on for another 45minutes, before doing the same thing and going home.

PoD was a monochrome photo of two ladies (yet another two ladies) having lunch on a stage behind the main attractions.

Back home dinner was a bowl of soup. Lovely soup too, Scamp. Later we watched the finale of Shetland. Worth waiting for.

Tomorrow we may go dancing in the last tea dance of the year at Glenburn.

 

A day in the Toon – 9 December 2024

Posted on by Zogman

We took the bus in to Glasgow, just for a wander in the sunshine.

It wasn’t warm by any means. A cold day from start to finish, but the sunshine made it feel better. First stop was Nero for a coffee, then we split up. Scamp walked down to the shops and along to M&S. I went to the Apple shop to interrogate the experts. They don’t have a Genius Bar in the Glasgow centre shop now which is a shame. It was good being able to talk to the geniuses!
I did spend some time perusing the expensive pieces of glass, metal and plastic and I did have a conversation with one of the advisers who answered all my questions, so I achieved something.

I bumped into Scamp on my way down Buchanan Street and we walked back up in the general direction of the bus station. Bought ourselves a bargain pack of reading glasses each in Poundstretchers £3 for three pairs of glasses. Walked round the corner an found that we’d just missed the X3. Rather than wait in the cold, I suggested we cross the road and wander around JL for fifteen minutes and that’s what we did. Why freeze when we could use JL’s heating to keep us warm. The bus arrived in time and we headed home.

Scamp built up the tree and decorated it while we listened to Joni Mitchell which is a tradition in the house. I added two wee decorations to the tree and helped hang up the Christmas star Mairi had made for us.

Dinner was the usual pasta with what’s in the fridge and a tomato sauce. Then I launched Time Machine. Apple’s automatic backup device and it performed the first backup in about 5 years. I’d forgotten just how useful that bit of software was. I hope I don’t ever need it, but it’s there if I do and I’m sure it will work perfectly to reinstall the entire system.

PoD went to an asian couple taking selfies in Buchanan Street. It was too cold and the sun was too low to take anything more interesting. When the sun is as low as that it really blinds me.

The weather looks even colder tomorrow. Sub zero predicted for most of Scotland. I think we might be taking Shona out for lunch. It depends on whether Ben decides to go to school or not.

On the road – 13 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Out just before 9am to get a taxi to Buchanan Street bus station.

Showed our ticket and our bus pass to the bus driver and we were ready for the loooong journey north. Little did we know then just how long that journey would be.

Scamp demanded that I get the window seat on the bus, because I’d never had the luxury of being able to look out the window as someone else did the hard work and drove us all the way to Skye. I’d always been the one driving us to Skye since way back in 1987!! That was last century, you realise!! Anyway, I enjoyed the run out of Glasgow and up past Loch Lomond. We passed Glencoe and crossed the Ballachulish Bride over Loch Leven and on along the snaking road to our first official stopping point of Fort William. A half hour stop there, just enough time for a coffee and a cold panini each and we were on the bus again.

We’d changed drivers at Fort William and climbed up past Lochs Lochy, Garry and Loyne, then along Loch Cluanie where we stopped for a comfort break (ie, a fag break for some). We were now at the highest point on the journey and it was all downhill from there … literally. We drove past the ‘Biscuit Tin’ that is named Eileen Dolan Castle. Not nearly as old as it looks.We cruised along to Kyle of Lochalsh where the driver did another ‘comfort break’ stop. That felt like a stop too many. It was now gloaming, and as the sun sank behind the Skye hills I walked on to the slip and got a few photos of the Skye Bridge. When everyone got back on the bus the driver kept saying “Oh Dear!”, like the comedian he later turned out to be.

What happened was a warning light had appeared on his dashboard when he tried to start the engine. His solution was the same as every driver; he switched the engine off but immediately turned it back on again. Now, even I knew that he should have counted to ten first before restarting. It’s all about allowing capacitors and other electrical devices to discharge and give the engine a chance to have a clean restart. Not surprisingly the warning light was still there, but he drove off anyway, possibly with his fingers crossed. Maybe he thought he could drive the almost forty miles with a wounded bus.

After a short time he realised this was beyond his skill set and stopped to phone for a mechanic. Meanwhile about a dozen folk were complaining that they needed to get to Uig a further twenty odd miles from Portree to catch the ferry to Harris. He did manage to get the bus to a carpark in Broadford and arranged for a minibus to take them to the ferry port, so maybe I shouldn’t be so down on him.

However, two more breakdowns later we ended up halfway up a hill in total darkness, miles from anywhere (there are no streetlights between villages in Skye). Another call to a mechanic and then the driver started telling stories to the folk left on the bus and carrying on a repartee with a Canadian(?) teacher(?). I think they thought they were entertaining, but they obviously weren’t looking at the faces of the folk on the bus. We were all just fed up by then. Fed up and sore too.

Eventually, Scamp cut into his flow of consciousness and asked how long we’d need to sit in the dark, because we had people waiting for us in Portree. He disappeared for a while and came back with a message from the mechanic to say that we should be on the road again in 20mins.

As it turned out, the mechanic was as good as his word and on the way we dropped off one lady at a different ferry taking her to Raasay. Thankfully Jackie and Murdo were waiting for us. They’d even got a Chinese carry-out for us all! That was very welcome. Our advertised seven hour journey took Nine hours

When we described the driver to Murdo, he just said “Oh! ‘Popeye’, that ***** idiot of a man.” Expletives deleted.

PoD went to the photo I’d taken in the ‘Blue Hour’ looking out from the slip at Kyle.

Is it significant that today was the 13th? Lucky white heather!

Tomorrow we are hoping to meet Grian.

Coffee and Glasgow – 7 November 2024

Posted on by Zogman

On a beautifully clear autumn morning.

Today started with an email from Henry’s Coffee to say that my order of coffee beans was ready to collect. A quick calculation told me I could manage to drive to Falkirk, pick up the coffee and get back home before I caught the bus to Glasgow to meet Alex. Driving through Falkirk just before 10am was a delight. Very little traffic and a beautiful blue sky overhead. Picked up the coffee, but had to turn down the offer of a cup of the espresso blend with the owner as I was on a tight schedule. Got back home and then I was off to catch the bus to Glasgow.

Over a cup of coffee in Nero we made our plans for the day which was to get the bus to Kelvingrove and then walk up to Glasgow University where we were intending getting some photos in the Cloisters. I know, technically they are not cloisters, but I never did understand the difference. With that agreed I wanted a look at the new iMacs that can be ordered from tomorrow, but it was only the M3 models that were on display. Even they had eye watering prices attached. As and example, the Mac Pro starts at a quid short of £8,000 and that’s without a display! We looked, but were very careful not to touch!

Once the dream popped and we returned to reality, we caught the bus to Kelvinside and did walk up to the Uni. It was mobbed with secondary school kids who were working in groups. Some were measuring things, some were photographing things and some were analysing mosses and lichens on the buildings. None of them were causing mayhem, so they must all have come from posh schools. That lovely weather from the morning and the warmth it had brought with it had dissipated rapidly as we climbed the hill to the Uni. Now there was a cold wind blowing and it was woolly bunnet time. After we’d photographed our fill, we headed back to Kelvingrove Art Gallery for a quick lunch. Mine was a sandwich of Chicken and Pesto on Brown Bread with a glass of fresh orange. Alex had his usual of Ayrshire Ham with Pickles, also on the Brown Bread.

The light had almost gone by the time we left Kelvingrove so we caught the bus back to the city centre and had another coffee before heading our separate ways. Alex to the bus station and me to get a Yankee Candle for Scamp in Buchanan Galleries, then the X3 to The Shops for a couple of bunches of Alstroemeria flowers, also for Scamp.

It was Leek and Potato soup for dinner tonight and it was delicious. We watched and episode of Portrait Artist and for once, almost all the artists were spectacularly good. Scamp picked the winner.

PoD turned out to be a student striding past the Cloisters, although I was spoiled for choice with the photos I’d taken, all from Glasgow Uni.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending going to FitSteps in the morning and then hopefully meeting her big sister. I am hoping to have a free morning that will probably be filled with a third attempt at installing Ventura into what’s probably a tired little SSD. It must be fed up with me by now.

 

A day in the Toon – 27 September 2024

Posted on by Zogman

In the sunshine!

Scamp was out this morning to her FitSteps class. When she came back we drove down to the station and got the train to Glasgow.

This was September Weekend, a Glasgow holiday on the last weekend in September and we expected the station to be mobbed, but it was the Alloa train that came in first and they don’t celebrate the Sept Weekend, so the train was half empty. A nice easy run into Glasgow.

Had coffee first in Nero where the Learner Barista got the orders mixed up and Scamp got the two shot latte and I got the single shot americano. She’ll learn, but hopefully fast before she gets her ‘jotters’.

We were going looking for a pair of leather gloves for Scamp. She had lost her good pair of purple gloves a few months ago and now that the weather was getting colder, she needed a new pair. First stop was JL. They had loads of them at loads of different prices, but no purple ones, or none she liked anyway. She did seem stuck between a light brown pair and a grey pair. Not sure, we walked down through the city centre to M&S in Argyle Street.

On the way there we noted all the differences that had occurred in the four or five years since Covid. Buildings where there used to be car parks. Shops that had changed their names in those intervening years. The city seems to be in a constant state of flux. We did find leather gloves in M&S, but they just didn’t look as comfortable or as well made as the ones in JL. I could tell by the look on her face that these were not the gloves she wanted.

We left, deciding to go back to JL. On the way we took a detour through the fun fair that had sprung up in two days since Alex and I had wandered round it. I got the shot I should have taken on Wednesday of the inside of the entrance to the St Enoch’s subway, shot on the ideal lens this time. I was pleased with that.

We walked back up Buchanan Street looking for somewhere for lunch. We tried to get in to an interesting place called Mowgli, but we’d have to wait for about two and a half hours to get a table. It wasn’t that interesting, but we may go back to it again. Instead we chose All Bar One. Scamp had, surprise – surprise, Fish ’n’ Chips and I had Chicken Pad Thai. Service was slow, but the food, when it came was good and Scamp’s fish was massive.

Left there and walked up to JL where Scamp chose the light brown gloves which looked really nice on her. On the way we’d picked up a birthday card for Ian, June’s friend. We wrote it and Scamp went to post it while I browsed the bargains in JL, of which there were few.

Got through the ticket gate just in time to catch a train going to Alloa via Croy. Alloa folk seem strange. There were plenty of seats, but they seemed happier cluttering up the doorway. Maybe they don’t get out much.

Drove home and had a decent cup of coffee, Scamp of course, having white tea. Dumped the photos and posted three of them on Flickr. The best in my opinion was another view of the subway station at St Enoch.

Tomorrow I think we may be dancing. It looks like we do have a quorum, but only just enough folk.

A good day in The Toon.

Down the Green – 18 September 2024

Posted on by Zogman

This morning dawned the same as all the other days this week, bright and sunny.

Scamp though we go somewhere to make the most of this Indian Summer and I had to agree. Her first suggestion was a walk down Glasgow Green. I fancied going to Strathaven. Scamp seemed to agree, but it was obvious her heart was set on the Green, so although we headed in the general direction of Strathaven, I relented and after some twists and turns through Gorbals, we arrived at the Green and we must have been meant to go there, because we got one of the remaining two parking places.

We walked down the park and out through the McLennan arch and on along Parnie Street to the cafe at the Tron for a coffee. The Americano was bitter, but the sun was shining in through the window so I didn’t mind. Then Scamp came up with the brilliant idea of walking along Argyle Street to M&S to get sandwiches to take to the park and have a sort of picnic. Excellent idea! I chose Chicken, Sweet Potato and Black Bean salad with a smoothie and Scamp had Italian Pasta & Spinach Salad with side of mixed fruit. We piled it all carefully into a new fold-up bag Scamp had bought at the market in Jersey and walked back to the Green.

It’s a busy place, Glasgow Green at lunchtime, so we had to walk a fair distance to find an empty bench to sit at. It’s hard to believe that a week ago we were down to single figure temperatures while today we were basking in wall to wall sunshine. After lunch we went for a walk over the suspension bridge, then walked back to the car.

I’d already taken what I considered to be the PoD. It was a couple sitting on a bench among the trees. It looked ok on the computer, but improved greatly when I turned it into monochrome and the deal was sealed. PoD.

Back home, Scamp was busy in the garden again potting up a wee blue leafed plant we’d saved from the ‘junk pile’ at Klondyke, and when that was done, just general garden maintenance. I went for a walk in St Mo’s to see if there was anything else worthy of a place in Flickr. There was, but the couple on the bench was still the winner of PoD.

Tonight was a busy night in the dance class. Four couples plus two men who were gooseberries, taking turns to dance with the teacher. There wasn’t a lot of space on that tiny postage stamp of a dance floor to dance the Foxtrot in, but we managed it after taking the dance apart and working out what it would look like in Stewart & Jane’s class. It might have been fairly simple, but it was the floor craft, the dancing around folk that made it difficult tonight.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending to go on an expedition into Glasgow and I’m going shopping in the morning with the possibility of a coffee with Fred in the afternoon.