Holiday round-up

Those of you who know me know that any blog with the word 'holiday' in the title is bound to be filled with aggression and assertive opinions, but this is the exception. I've recently returned from 4 days in Scotland, and it was alright. However, there were a couple of things which ever-so-slightly got on my nerves...

Public Transport = Shite
Who would've thought that a couple of power lines falling down would cause so much trouble? Arriving in York for our first change we discovered some power lines had come down near Thirsk, meaning all through trains to Darlington had been stopped, and vice versa. Brilliant. To be fair to the station staff they got the ball rolling sharpish but that meant sitting on a smelly old coach for about 17 hours surrounding by some of the most cretinous people in the world (the general public). Due to an additional accident the driver had to take an alternative route to the extent that at one point we drove past my back garden. When we finally got there we had to stand on a freezing platform for ages until the train arrived. That was understandably packed but we managed to blag first-class seats and sat watching the darkness (not the piss-poor band) go past for another couple of hours. In the end, a journey which should have taken about 5 hours took 9. What a start.

Nurses = Legends
The reason for the trip was to attend a 100th birthday party. That itself was OK (I was given lager and cake so you can't really complain). I could go on all day about the old folks in the home but let's just say it was a depressing and uplifting experience in equal measure. However, what struck me was the unbelievable class of the nursing staff. To a man (well, woman) they were friendly, polite, incredibly patient and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their work. It's a testament to their dedication that there were so many smiling pensioners about. It later transpired that they'd even had a whip-round to provide the alcohol for the do. Great, great people. And a couple of them were absolute crackers as well.

Edinburgh = Edinbeggar
That title works better if you pronounce it like a Yank, but the truth is within 500 yards of the station we'd seen 3 of the work-shy blighters. I've got nothing against them personally, but I would like it if they fucked off the main roads and plied their 'trade' elsewhere. Edinburgh is a nice place and the museum is shit hot, but the fact that my observations are based on the beggars proved that the council is getting it wrong. If I were in charge I'd have them moved on sharpish. Nobody wants to be accosted by these tramps, however unaggressively, but it immediately paints a bad picture of an otherwise picturesque city.

That's more or less it for the McHoliday. I saw Wayne Hemingway at York station and my auntie's house from the train but that's not really interesting. And I also saw Murrayfield, which is without doubt the most faceless stadium I've ever seen, and I've seen Craven Cottage.