Winter?

OK I am a bad blogger. The other night my brother was teasing me about there never being anything new to read here anymore, and I thought at the time that it hadn't been all that long since I posted... Last post was the 22nd of September Patrick, that's not recent. Thing is though I keep thinking about blogging because there's always so much going on, so it's always current in my head even if I've neglected to actually type any of it up.

So what's new in the land of splat? Well I got promoted at work about a month ago - pay rise and new job title and everything! Most exciting. Work generally is exciting, if a little busier than would be entirely comfortable. I'm not complaining you understand - what with all the talk of economic downturn and recession* it's very reassuring to be enjoying our own little boom time at the office. Long may it continue!

Working too hard is getting nicely balanced out as always though - for one thing I'm still basking in the happy afterglow of a week's holiday up in Sutherland with a bunch of friends. Way back in January 7 of us rented a large-ish house on the coast above my favourite spot on the planet: Oldshoremore beach. A stormy week in October up there is a surprisingly soothing experience**.

Most of the week was pleasantly lazy, but Justin and I togged up in our winter walking gear for one glorious day and climbed Arkle which was stunning. Chris joined us for part of the hike but was let down by his rather less weatherproof walking gear, and very sensibly retreated with wet feet before we left the path to clib the peak. Opting to go take stunning pictures in the valley instead some are already up and he'll probably post more before I get round to sorting my album (not to mention being a far better photographer than I) so if you're keening for some stunning highland scenery keen an eye on his flickr stream. Hamish also took some great photos***, as did Liz... Anita also took pictures which I'm sure are lovely, but I've not seen them, and Keith took no photos because his camera charger stayed in Edinburgh. I took some photos and I will post them soon because apart from anything else it's been far too long since I updated the pictures section of this place.

Speaking of updates to splateagle.com - there's a minor overhaul in progress, and if I tell you all that I'll have it done by next weekend there's an outside chance it'll be finished before next year :D. Nothing links-and-RSS-feed-breakingly drastic - the structure and look/feel of the place won't change - mostly I'm just doing a bit of tidying up in existing sections. I'm also adding a new bit to cross-reference all the other places online where I occasionally make an impact (for when things go all quiet here) watch this space, but not with baited breath please: I don't want to be held responsible for any asphyxiation.

What else? Oh I've managed to rack up around 8,000 miles since May in that car I bought for driving at the weekends... oops. It's been great though! Right now Hobbes is away on a long visit with his mechanic. On holiday an (already known) oil-seal related fault saw him chug through over four litres of high-grade engine oil, before finally blowing his turbo. Happily even in smoky sans-turbo form he's a hoot to drive and the turbo is under warranty... also I seem to have found a great mechanic for getting him sorted when things like this happen. Part of the ownership experience of Italian performance cars is getting on first name terms with the fellas who fix 'em I guess.

* Edinburgh's local economy still seems to me to be holding up better than most, but on the other hand I don't think the repercussions of HBOS and RBS faltering have fully trickled down yet...
** surprising to anyone who's not been there that is.
*** though if you're reading this more than 30 seconds after I've posted it, don't be surprised if he's revamped his site again and broken all my links! ;)