Rubble Trouble

It didn't take long to sort that lot out.  Just the flooring to go and judging by the noise at teatime I suspect that has been more or less lifted also.  In theory the archeological people are now meant to go over the ground in the hope of finding something interesting.  However this part of town has been farmland until the 1800's as far as is known so while there is hope I doubt much will be found in this ground.  If I see them searching I will make sure the museum gets whatever is recovered, not however if it is just stones!  
People here do find things in their gardens.  Iron Age, Roman, Saxon settlements were here and much has gone on since then so it is inevitable things turn up often.  Most once inhabited areas today are either built over or were farmland for about four thousand years, not much hope of the recover of things in those conditions, but the town is always eager to find something!  One day that gold coin hoard will arrive, one day.

What has arrived are new neighbours!  here I am, feeling weary and suffering from something and two young lads, gay boys it appears, are moving in next door.  I am not pleased!  The last thing this building requires is young folks, their noise and disgusting habits.  We old folks prefer our own.  It is at times like this I remember the noise from next door, downstairs, upstairs, round the back and over there, that was London life.  How silent life has been this last year or two with the considerate neighbours, especially the ones in that flat who were never there, that's considerate!  However when people move in I wish to move to that house on an island that is cut off from the mainland by two tides a day.  I suspect that would suit me although no doubt some Essex man would still attempt to land there to annoy me, are shotguns allowed?  The occasional hassles with folks in the past always makes me nervous of newcomers.  For years most of us have got on quite well and new folks always cause problems, sometimes unintentionally and occasionally deliberately.  The good Lord tells me to love them, that is treat them with consideration but I was not in that mood when they appeared today.  Ah well, it will all work for good in the end.  I'm just glad my life is so good at the moment and this disturbs me a wee bit.  It will be OK but we wait on the Lord as we piously say and hope he hears and does things our way and not his, something he is want to do!
Young folks, bah!  

Work tomorrow and the even younger folks are supposedly playing Harry Potters 'Quiddich' (?) game.  That is the game they play in the sky so how the lass is going to work that one out with thirty kids in the hall and not kill someone I await to see.  I will wait at a distance which equals the entire length of the building!   
So far there have been nothing but happy faces from kids and mums and dads, whacking one another with sticks while flying may of course change this...
Then home to growl at the folks next door, eat and fall into my bed until Tuesday.

Demolish!

The process of removing an aged building, this one contained asbestos and was condemned, is a fraught one.  The building, used by the Red Cross Ambulance folks lay abandoned for a long period when suddenly it was up for sale.  Next thing I find a man wandering about peering into windows, a developer hoping to meet one of the tenants.  This tenant was working as an estate agent and had informed him of a quick buck, and she would get a piece.  Indeed the sale went ahead, by auction, after she had moved into her boyfriends (at the time) place.   So it was sold and nothing happened.  Then plans appeared for a three storey block of flats that was clearly taken from elsewhere and dumped on the plot.  We were not having that and a later plan was accepted for a two storey block.  
Then it transpired the greedy owner had sold the land to another and made some £50,000 in the process.  Ten percent for her I expect.  Nothing of course then happened, a bit like my life.  Yet one day suddenly people were working on the drains, blocking the road and doing something, but not much.  
Nothing then happened.
Today, much later, a large yellow machine was brought in and demolition began, slowly.  Two big yellow machines stood around with several men in orange overalls while two non overalled men talked about the work.  Either the new developer/owner or the contractor boss.  Either way little more was done but some banging and heaving and then they took the big yellow machine away, probably to stop it being stolen during the night.
Does this mean something is happening?  Does this mean they will finish knocking down the hut?  Could this be one of those points in law that you must do a certain amount of work or reapply for planning permission I wonder?  
The excitement continues....

So in my sleepy state I gathered myself together this morning and headed for Sainsburys just up the road and a handful of requirements.  On the way I remembered I need to draw money out of the hole in the wall that usually laughs at me when I try.  I sneaked up on it and from the side entered my card and demanded £100.  Unfortunately I pressed the £10 and that was all I got.  I was too ashamed to try again deciding instead not to pay cash anywhere.  
I drooped along through the now awakened main street, shop doors were opened, people looking in the windows, the first mums dragging children around with them, a sense of a new day hung in the air.  I later found myself in the supermarket but was unable to grasp where things were.  Usually I follow the same old routine and it took me some time to realise the problem lay in my 'Sainsburys' thoughts being overridden by my actually having walked into 'Tesco' out of habit!  By this time I had lost all care and just wandered about picking up likely things forgetting I had a list in my hand.
I'm dreading tomorrow at the museum...

  

Bike, Ambulance, Australia, Heart of Midlothian, Sunshine,

As I perambulated about this morning on my bike, that is if perambulate is the word, I passed this man.  Interestingly he is parked opposite the actual ambulance station where a young woman prepared her vehicle for the day.  I preferred this one.  It gives the impression of being a one time army vehicle, used in desert warfare, and has a sign for 'Camel Trophy' above the door. As that is a type of cigarette made from camels it appears a bit unhealthy to me.  I could of course be mistaken, it has happened before, at least once.  It is often parked there and as it has also the St Johns Ambulance badge on it (the St Johns Ambulance are volunteers who do first aid work at various events) I suspect it may be used at one of the vehicle get together's that abound around here during the summer.   This lot have a base next door to us, on occasion they like to use their proper ambulance and show off the siren.  One driver at least now understand Edinburgh words.  Treatment from St Johns is excellent I suspect.  They begin with young kids and many volunteers have been connected with them for years.  They used to attend football matches but I think changes to the law has required professional ambulance staff in attendance at such games.  However accidents at car rally's and carnival events will always have good quality treatment for first aid from these folk.

Look, almost home from my bike ride and the town is still akip!  Of course Australia is still at lunch and the USA is still dumbing down the brain watching TV.  Now Australia home of the sunshine, played Iraq in a World Cup qualifier today and through the medium of the laptop I was able to watch the players in windy, wet Sydney struggle through the game.  The Aussies won against a very young Iraq and while the ageing Australians will once again find themselves at the World Cup finals in Brazil the Iraq side have every reason to look to the future.  Their players were mostly under 21 and look to have good prospects.  The Diggers on the other hand at mostly around the 30 mark and will be facing their last major event.  The young talented Ryan McGowan  who was sitting on the bench today learned all he knows at Tynecastle Park, home of the Heart of Midlothian.  He is already more than a great prospect, as the aged players move on he will be one of those moving in!     

Sadly financial trouble at Tynecastle has left a deep black cloud over Edinburgh.  This time it does not emanate from all those second hand storms the Americans dump on us when they are finished with them, this one arises from bad counting of the cash and this is serious.  

When Vladimir Romanov took over the club the Hearts were £20 million or so in debt.  Since then, by hard work, investment in players and managers that has gone down to a mere £30 million or so, depending on who is cooking the books.  The financial situation has caught up with the club at last.  Yesterday it was announced the club will move into administration, begin next season minus 15 points, and possibly lose what decent prospects are left, the ground, and be in a right old pickle.

Naturally had I been a billionaire none of this would happen.  I would rescue the club and sit in the stand drinking brandy and smoking cigars like they used to do.  Well without the cigars actually.  And without the brandy as it is not allowed during the game.  However my £2:34 will not stretch that far and several hopefuls are lining up to control the club on the cheap.  I am not sure I fancy any of them.  The situation is in abeyance at the moment as administrators in Lithuania, from where Vlad ruled the club, and Scotland sit down to work something out.  It is important to remember your history here and the Hearts song with the line, 'Though we sometimes go down we can aye go back up.'  I am positive that will indeed be the case, whatever happens. 

I note however the media support for Rangers when they fiddled £100 million in taxes has not been on offer for the Heart of Midlothian.  I am surprised to find that that club gets support Edinburgh's top side does not receive, I wonder why?

And Vlad?  Since the Lithuanian authorities asked him to explain some 23 million Litas that were 'embezzled' he has moved to Moscow and apparently suffered a heart attack.  he has gone to ground, as has his bank, his cash and he is hiding behind his east European 'friends.'  Hmmmm.

.