Things in Scotland that rock ...

1.  Today's weather.  What a gorgeous day - sunshine and a little breeze with lots of blue sky.  But still nice for walking about.  I think we saw maybe one day like this per year in Houston.

2.  Diagonal crosswalks.  Why don't these exist everywhere?  Cross two streets at once - God bless the Scots.

3.  Scottish toilets.  How they manage to get 100 litres per flush from a tankless toilet is a mystery to me, but it is truly a sight to behold.  The house shakes as the water rushes down ...

4.  Half pints.  One more pint would be too many, but you still need a little more ("om te snoepen" as the Dutch would say).

5.  Uniformed schoolkids.  They're still as strange and disrespectful as anywhere else, they just look smarter.

Anyway, we have had an interesting day trying to find a bank.  It is hard to choose - do you pick the one whose stock went down 60% yesterday, or the one who went down 40% but has a worse position in the mortgage market.  Scary stuff.  Good thing we're not rich enough to have a whole lot to lose.  A good time to be liquid, I guess.

Fiona went out on her first photography assignment.  I asked her for 4 pictures - one of the North Sea, one of a seagull (we'll ask Jul for a positive diagnosis), another of a pigeon in or on an old building and one of something red.  She had trouble with the seagull, but I think she nailed the rest.  Here they are.  We will also be accepting requests for future photo assignments, so this has officially gone from a passive blog reading experience to full-on audience participation!  Be creative.  Remember though, that like my seagull request, sometimes it just ain't gonna happen.

Cheers,

Rik