Blogs from Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 19

I’m fairly certain that this is a bad idea, but I’m doing it anyway. Today’s blog comes live from the fourth floor computer lab of Edinburgh’s library. In an attempt to avoid dirty looks, I’m typing this while the word document is at 40 per cent zoom, which means no one around me can read what I’m typing. Unfortunately, this privacy also prevents me from being able to read it as well, which is a real shame. I do have a general idea as to the subject of today’s blog (spoiler alert: it’s Lists) but I’m sure most of you are more interested in my wellbeing rather than my weird preoccupations. School is daunting. I have two essays due in a week and a bit. Luckily for me, I have no plans for the weekend and ... read more

Hello my devoted followers, it is your omnipotent overlord speaking (please note the alliteration). I request that you pay attention to the following statement regarding my life. First, I would like to apologise; I’m writing this at 4:08 in the morning because my room is too hot so the window is open, which means I can hear everyone in the common room. Obviously, this is less than ideal sleeping conditions. C’est la vie. Anyway, I’m overtired so this might end up getting weird. School is going okay. I need to get a move on on two essays I have to do by October 14th. It’s completely ridiculous because that should be Thanksgiving, not to mention the fact that it’s Avery’s birthday. Side note: if you’ve somehow stumbled on this blog and you don’t actually know me ... read more

Last time we visited Edinburgh in 2009 I was the one who did all the family research as we spent a full morning and a bit of an afternoon at the Scottish Registry Office. Today is Gretchen’s turn as she tries to find some of the missing pieces in the puzzle of her family history on her mother’s side. So we needed to be there as soon as the doors opened to the free ‘tasting ‘session that started at 10am. We had contemplated going into the city by train as the station was just a short walk away as we recalled that finding a car park was not an easy task and quite expensive in the city. However, to keep some flexibility we ended up taking the car and as it turned out we spotted a ... read more

So. Scotland. First international trip in a while. Since 2007, which is a long time for me. It's nice to be traveling again. Seriously travelling. Like, taking a long flight over a large body of water to get there type of traveling. Why has it been so long? Well, a few things. I had to pay off my big '07 trip and my law school loan, keep my nose to the grindstone so as to not lose my job during the recession, and endure a year of cancer treatment (there's s whole other blog for that story -- Google "Doug 2.0"). But, in the past year, I left my private law firm gig for an in-house position that offers a much better Work/Life balance, (one where I can leave for two weeks, not feel guilty about ... read more

I have said it before and I'll say it again. We are very lucky in the friend department. Before we left for London, one of my best mates, Chaz, who lives in Edinburgh said we could stay with him while we visited. He then trumped his own offer by arranging for us to spend two weeks in his sister Joan's flat, while she was away in Abu Dhabi. Chaz is a cop in Edinburgh, so not only did we get the local tourist info, we also got the tour of where not to go, which was just as interesting. We lucked out and got to spend two weekends with Chaz as well as a few odd days here and there. We also met Chaz and Joan's good friend Susan, who was a blast to hang out ... read more