Older and wiser? Aye right!

I've been laid up all week with a sporting injury...well I suppose that tripping and rugby tackling a cast iron litter bin, whilst running for a taxi, after watching a six nations match in the pub strictly speaking isn't a sporting injury, but hey gie's a break.
A break is what I nearly gave myself anyway, a broken shoulder that is, and a dunt on the head into the bargain.
My left arm has been out of action all week, it's coming back into use now but only slowly and painfully.
Odd thing is that since my head bump both tea and coffee are tasting strange.
I've only had one cup and a couple of exploratory sips of each all week.
Now I don't know whether the headaches are bin-bang related or caffeine withdrawl symptoms.
So what's going on? Either the knock on the nogging has effected the way interpret certain tastes or there's something up with our water that because I've been off work I don't know about. I know which I'd bet on.
It was my birthday too, and I'd had a nice weekend up until that point.
Since my age is now the answer to the great question of Life, the Universe and Everything I'm hoping that at the very least I've gained a few nuggets new wisdom through the experience;
1. Taxi's aren't like other forms of public transport, they don't leave without their passengers coz if they do they don't get paid.
2. "Mostly 'armless" jokes just aren't really that funny.
and
3. Scotland should consider fielding a couple of cast iron litter bins against England in the next six nations match. They're bloody hard to bring down!

Only time will tell whether I've knocked some sense into myself or lost what little I had.
After reading this you may have already formed your own concussion, sorry conclusion on that one.

Orcadia and other bits n bobs

Funny thing this blogging, as I'm now rediscovering.
Most of the time I don't write anything because nothing much has happened and I can't think of anything remotely interesting to share, then I get a fortnight like the last one when so much is going on that I don't get a chance to go online.
So quick round up of places and events;
Three days in Orcadia (that's the bunch of wee isles that float just north of Scotlandica).
Flying out of Dalcross ( aka Inverightenough airport) at 8.30a.m. is always kind of surreal. Actually it's like that whatever the time of day. There's hardly ever anyone there, if you have to queue behind anyone to check in you're very unlucky indeed and all the staff seem slightly bemused but happy that people have actually bothered to turn up.
Surreal experience of the day was when I walked through the almost empty terminal up to the lonely guy at the check-in desk. He spotted me coming and nearly tripped over himself getting out from behind his desk trying to intercept me before I got to the bit where you put your bags on the conveyor belt.
He headed me off before I reached the point where presumably one day a queue will form and ascertained that I was heading to Orkney. He then asked whether I'd considered using the self-check in facility and guided me to a silvery pillar with a wee screen in it. I looked around at his abandoned check in desk, and at the total lack of other people trying to check in, gave a shrug and agreed to give it a go.
My credit card inserted in the slot, flight number and name punched in, all by my enthusiastic tutor, whirr, whirr, credit card spat out and the message read "Insufficient information to allow check-in to continue, please use check-in desk"
"Bloody management tell us to encourage you to use these and then they don't bloody work," my tutor informed me ruefully.
We tripped across the shiney empty concourse and he booked me on in 30 seconds flat without a hitch.
Orkney itself was just the same as the last time I was there, which is no real surprise really since it seems to have been much the same since the Neolithic!
Luckily it's a very nice "the same".
I didn't get a chance to visit any of the ancient sites on this trip, but even passing them as you travelled around the isles fills you with wonder.
Aultbae was my next destination, off to the west coast of Scotlandica for a night's break with the Viking Queen, and very nice it was too. The Aultbae Hotel did us a nice room with all the sea views that a viking could handle, a friendly bar and a good meal, in the "Zetland" dining room oddly enough.
Halkirk, the mean streets of Wick earlier in the week and another chauffuer driven excursion down Loch Ness side to Dalchriechart today made for another week getting out and about. Driver of the day once again was the Reverand Dave, apprentice pie-man and part-time ghost buster at Craig Dunain. The Rev is taking over my old area whilst I venture north, and so it's been all go showing him the best wee roads, pit-stops and views...oh yes, and some work stuff too.
Having a long weekend, Monday off so that I can really enjoy the superbowl.
Feel the blue-thunder? Gooooooo Seahawks!!