A Typical English Sunday but in Scotland

This weekend has seen us having visitors again.Welcome visitors too,not the ones that as soon as they get here you wish that they would go.

More snow has fell and once again we are living in our own private Winter wonderland.It really makes the village look better than the muddy sludge that remained after the last snowfall.Whether I will feel the same tomorrow when I have to go back to work remains to be seen.

We took a trip out for lunch today at a pub that I have driven past hundreds (if not thousands) of times but never really been too bothered about stopping at.It was The Old Mill at Brodie,and from the outside always looked a little bit rundown and neglected.Nothing ventured,nothing gained and we tentatively entered.

I don't know dear readers if you have children yourselves,but let me educate you a one key matter regarding dining out with kids.The main thing that will deceide if you will stay at an eaterie is the immediate reaction of the staff when you turn up with a child that loudly states they want ice cream... The staff at The Old Mill were fantastic and there was not one sign of 'The Look' that you sometimes get from childless people.

As we entered the pub I straight away noticed that they were selling Bacchus Framboise.If you've never tried it,it's a great Belgian fruit beer that I had to sample 2 pints of...And a pint of Tradewinds Ale made by the Cairngorm Brewery.Very nice too and just the stuff to accompany the excellent locally reared steak. I know that steak and chips is a very boring meal to have,but hey,sometimes you just need a bit of something that you know.

Anyway here I am and 2 bottles of Hobgobin ale are inviting me to drink them.Seems a bit naughty on the night before I go back to work,but I've never been good at abstaining.

Look after yourselves where ever you may be.

Another day,another dollar

Well it's been a few days since I went back to work expecting the worst after the winter break,but to be honest there were no monsters waiting for me.In fact things are pretty quiet...Too quiet in fact.

I don't know if it is due to the fact that traditionaly January is a slow month,but I'd much rather be busy.That sounds crazy I know,but when things are quiet,my mind starts to wander about what could have been and where I could have been if I'd made different choices.

Reading various posts on Facebook doesn't help either.Nearly everybody that I know is doing really well and about to buy their next holiday home in wherever the world is popular at the moment.I just get the feeling that I'm standing still when the rest of the world are charging ahead of me...I know that's not the case but sometimes we need somone to fall flat on their faces just to show that they are normal-as I am.

It could be worse though I guess,but then again in the back of my mind it could be better.Or could it? I've been sent a job application for another company in the area,but i'm in 2 minds as whether to apply for it.I reckon that the longer you stay in a job,the harder it is to leave and take the jump to something new.To use yet another well used phrase-nothing ventured nothing gained.

I've been offered the chance to take my Cisco certification that could lead to something better.It will be a hard road to travel,but I'm hoping that the trip will be worth it.I really need something to do in the evening that doesn't involve just watching the TV with a bottle of beer for company.Something to tax me may just be the thing to break me out of what I'm feeling at the moment.

Stay safe

Back to work..

Well today is my birthday and for a present,Callum decided to wake us up at 5am.He just wouldn't go back to sleep so I took him through and tried to sleep on the sofa with him...
He wasn't having it,so the infernal hell that is children's TV began.Not really the start that I needed before going back to work to god knows what.Not only an I filled with trepidation for the drive into work in temperatures that are hitting -18c,but after hearing of lots of weather related problems at some of the sites that I cover,it's going to be busy.

How can weather affect I.T (which should be inside away from the elements)? Well it seems that the snowfall has been so heavy that the roof has collapsed on 20 of the warehouses where the maturing Whisky is kept.Power has been shut down as a precaution,so that means the networking equipment is down,which means no PCs will be worth even switching on.

Friday is a half day for me,so the weekend is even longer than normal.On a normal week this would be great,but after spending nearly 3 weeks off work already,I'm not really looking forward to it.At least I'll be able to start going back to the gym again!
My body seems to be staging a silent protest at my recent spate of inactivity.I'm definitely needing to hit the cross trainer for an hour and zone out to some heavy rock at the same time.It's a form of escape from my normal world that I miss.

Have a good weekend

Day One

Well I've finally taken the plunge and decided to start creating a blog.
Why? Well,I've been following somebody Else's for a while and thought why not?What it will turn out to be like remains to be seen but I'll give it a go and see.

Today was one of those days where something needed to happen but nothing really did.We've been snowbound for 4 days now and the 3 of us were really starting to niggle each other.I'm sure that you've all been there too.You know what I mean-little things that usually you let flow over you,suddenly start to 'really' get to you.
I'd better explain to you who the 3 of us are I suppose.3 paragraphs into my blog and already I'm assuming things.This will never do! In my world at the moment there are:
Me
Sara my lovely wife of 21 years
and Callum,our son who is 3.

There is also another that I forgot to mention.Bump! He or She is due to make an appearance on the 5th May or so the midwife tells us.

The postman called early this morning so we knew that the main road to Forres was open.This was our chance to finally escape and get some well needed shopping in and more importantly,see something other than the inside of our house.
I walked down to check on the state of the road before commiting the car to what could have been a trip from hell.
I hate digging cars out of the snow.Once is ok,but when you find yourself having to do it every day,the novelty sort of wears off a bit....
Well we managed,albeit slowly,but once getting into town,we found that there was nothing we really wanted to do! Typical eh?


Sara took the brave step of going to work this evening,so it's just Callum and I.I'll put him to bed and think on a bit for tomorrows entry to the blog.

I'm off to work myself tomorrow for the 1st time since the 18th of December last year.I'm really looking forward to it as I need something that will make me think.

look after yourselves.