Foxy

Foxy, originally uploaded by Lay Clerk.

About to head to work a few mornings ago, I glanced out my back window and saw what I initially thought was a dog jumping up onto a half-demolished outbuilding in our backyard, but on a second look it was clearly Mr Urban Fox here, accompanied by his feathered friend.

It's become more often recently that I've seen urban foxes, but rarely do I see them in broad daylight and this close up.

Apologies for the quality of the image, it was taken in a bit of a hurry through a glass window with raindrops on it.

Titan in the sunset

Titan in the sunset, originally uploaded by Lay Clerk.

I quite like this photo, which I took yesterday when out for a walk instead of going to the gym like I'd told everyone I was going to do!

If I was going to be wanky about it I'd say the juxtaposition of the setting sun and the Titan Crane, the last remnant of the world famous and world class John Brown shipyard, was a metaphor for the industrial heritage of the river Clyde in general and Clydebank in particular. But I'm not going to be wanky so I won't!

Oh, and I went to the gym tonight instead!

Fyer Fyer!

Fyer Fyer!, originally uploaded by Lay Clerk.

My first attempt at playing with spot colour in Photoshop Elements. I think I'm quite pleased with the result, and now that I know how to do it, I think I'll be looking out for suitable scenes to photograph with the specific intent of doing something similar.

The image was taken months ago from my front window.

Murder and Palestrina

Haven't been posting much lately. Life in the way again I suppose. But here's something exciting you might want to hear about.

There's been a murder. As they used to say in the TV programme Taggart. Only this time it isn't fiction, it's a real murder. And it happened next door to me. On Thursday. Or at least that's when they found the body.

The BBC Website is reporting that he died after a disturbance. I'm glad to say I was at choir practice on Thursday evening, so I have no idea whether there was indeed any disturbance. Or for that matter whether said disturbance took place on Thursday, or that was just when the body was discovered. The BBC mention that it was found at 1000 GMT, but they're getting their 24 hour clock mixed up because I think it was 10pm (2200 GMT) it was actually found.

I returned home after choir on Thursday, around 1130pm, and when I turned into my street there was a police van parked near my house. I soon also noticed the traffic car parked across the road, behind the only empty parking space, so I was obliged to reverse park into the space while the occupant of the traffic car sat there and watched. But I didn't reverse into him!

As I got out the car I noticed a senior officer standing nearby and at once realised that it was the Strathclyde Police nightshift Superintendent who was in attendance, and the traffic car was his transport/chauffeur, so I knew something serious was happening.

After midnight I noticed a couple of white-paper suited scenes of crime officers attending at the police van. The van was still there the next morning (yesterday), and when I returned home from work in the afternoon I soon had two police officers ringing my doorbell to take basic details and ascertain whether I'd seen anything. Which I hadn't. Because I had been 5 miles away singing Palestrina at the time!

I have in the recent past however had occasion to call the police when the windows of the flat next door have been broken, and it turns out it was the same flat in which the body has been found. Someone didn't like him, it would appear. No doubt I will be interviewed about the windows in due course, although I won't have anything to add that I didn't pass on at the time.

Last night the doorbell rang again and a well dressed earnest looking man was standing there apologizing for disturbing me, and when he said he was from the Daily Record and asked if I knew anything about what had happened next door I just politely declined and closed the door. According to their online story the deceased wasn't resident there but was at a party. But you can't trust the tabloid press with anything, so the jury's out on whether that is correct or not.

I didn't know the deceased and to the best of my knowledge had never laid eyes on him, particularly if the Daily Record version is correct and he wasn't resident. Although the address where it happened is kind of next door to me, it's in a separate building and I have confined my efforts of getting-to-know-the-neighbours to those in this same block. And all those I have met are lovely people.

So there you have it. Exciting times.

On a separate matter, tonight Glasgow Chamber Choir is performing a concert called Song of Songs based on various settings from that work.

It's about love and, frankly, sex, and it's delightfully rude in places, and full of doubles entendres! I commend it to you all.

It's at 7.30pm in St Bride's Episcopal Church in Hyndland Road, Glasgow, if you can manage. Tickets are only £9 (£6 concession). And there will be wine served too.

Review of 2007

I had every intention of continuing with regular postings here, but for various reasons real life has got in the way of virtual life somewhat, so there are gaps in this Blog. Time then for an update of what's been happening.

The year started with me still in the rented flat in Dowanhill in Glasgow's west end, where I'd moved after leaving Johnstone, in Renfrewshire, when my wife and I separated and we sold our lovely house in summer 2006.

January 2007 saw me starting to look properly for my own place and I had decided I didn't want to waste money on chasing "offers over" properties, so was interested only in fixed price. Not only that, but with Ernie & Elmo, our two cats, living with me I was only prepared to consider ground floor or at a push first floor flats so they could get out. It also had to be in the west end of Glasgow. My choices were, to say the least, limited!

Taking advantage of all t'InterWeb has to offer, I was on various mailing lists, and eventually I was notified of a flat which ticked all of the boxes except that it wasn't in the west end but 5 miles further out, in Clydebank. Long story short, I bought it and have been happily living here since May. More recently I had a cat flap fitted in the back door, so Ernie & Elmo have now got used to 24/7 access to the great outdoors, which seems to suit them well!

In March I was playing badminton, for only the second time in a long number of years, when I ruptured my Achilles Tendon, putting me into a plaster cast for 2 months, and off work for 3 months. That was not a pleasant experience.

My enforced lay-off from singing in the choir of St Mary's Cathedral while unable to stand without crutches, led straight on to a period of time out from singing there for various reasons I don't intend blogging about. I am still not singing in the cathedral, and I have only been back in the building twice, once for a funeral and once to sing in a concert with another choir. I remain very disillusioned with organised religion, which is a shame.

I visited Belgium with my dad over a weekend back in about April to see my brother who was working there for a few weeks, and despite being on crutches which made things difficult, that was the high spot of the year, partly because I haven't done much travelling abroad in my life, and partly because it was great to spend time like that with dad and with my brother who I see so rarely because he lives in California.

In Manchester I attended the civil partnership of the brother of a friend. It isn't all that long since these were first allowed in the UK, and a straw poll conducted during the speeches at the reception confirmed that not one person attending had been at one before!

Later in the year I was in Kent, this time without crutches, at the wedding of friends of a friend, and that was good partly because they're nice people, but also it's a nice part of the country.

In September my divorce came through. As an observation, it's easier to get divorced than married, at least as far as the amount of paperwork which need completing is concerned! We remain on friendly terms, and I sincerely hope it remains that way. No reason for it not to.

Work is good again. I moved out of my comfort zone into a different department a bit over a year ago, and that caused me for a time to consider where my future lay, but thankfully I am now enjoying it again and have no intention of moving. Sticking with my personal policy of not blogging about work, that's all I intend saying about it.

In late summer I embarked on a quest to pass my Institute of Advanced Motorists bike and car tests. It has been the subject of extensive posts over the past month or so, so suffice to say that I have now passed my advanced bike test, and I'm awaiting a date for my advanced car test.

Missing singing, but not missing the cathedral, in September I rejoined Glasgow Chamber Choir. I was one of the original members when it was founded, and I've sung with them on and off since then. I'm enjoying it immensely and, because there are a fair number of people who have joined since 2002 which was the last time I sang with the choir, I have been enjoying making new friends, some of whom look like becoming very good friends indeed.

So, there you have it. The short version of Lay Clerk's 2007.

Put simply, I have come from a real low in summer 2006 to being just about back on track, and the future looks potentially bright for all sorts of reasons.

My New Year's resolution for 2008 is to start to really enjoy life again, and to try to do what's right and necessary for me even if it's not necessarily right for other people. I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to hurt or upset anyone, least of all my friends, but I need to get my priorities sorted, and my priority this forthcoming year is going to be me!

Can I take this opportunity to wish everyone reading this, particularly those (and I am told there are some) who for some obscure reason read this Blog regularly, a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Fyer Fyer!

Feeling slightly concerned this evening, as the presence of flashing blue lights in the street alerted me to the presence of two fire engines which disgorged numerous firefighters, some of whom donned breathing apparatus and entered the common close across from my house. A few minutes later and a knock on the door proved to be a police officer who was doing the rounds asking if anything suspicious, like arguments etc, had been observed or heard this evening.

Apparently someone set a small fire against the door of a flat opposite. Arson as it's known in England and Wales, Wilful Fireraising here in Scotland. I haven't heard anything this evening, but sure as hell I'll be listening from now on!

No one injured, thankfully.

A summary

I missed the anniversary of this Blog! In fact I've missed it by a long way. My first post was on 2nd June 2006 and a lot has happened since then. Some I've Blogged about and some I haven't and never will.

I've been separated, sold our lovely marital home and moved to a rented flat with our two cats, been involved in some exceptionally interesting and unique stuff at work (twice), bought a huge motorcycle, changed department at work and thereby gone from feeling absolutely on top of my game to feeling like the most know-nothing new-start imaginable (a truly terrible feeling and one which for a time has caused me to seriously question my future at work), failed to get even an interview for another job because I have no degree (I have heard recently that the person who got the job is crap though, so that's something!), completely and painfully ruptured my Achilles Tendon putting me in plaster and on crutches for eight weeks and off work for ten, started an extended and ongoing period of time out of the Cathedral Choir I used to love but can't be arsed with now, visited Belgium for the first time, bought a new flat and moved there, and cried a lot. And of course some stuff I'm not going to mention.

I feel as though I've packed several years worth of life experience into a single year, but I really wish I hadn't.

No dumping

I took the photo on the right yesterday in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow. Some people clearly can't read, or maybe just have a blatant disregard for the law of the land!

On a related topic, when I moved into my new flat, despite having specified that I didn't want the scabby looking old washing machine which had been in the kitchen when I came to view the place, inevitably it was still there when I took possession of the property. The nice removal men were already going to be disconnecting and reconnecting my own washing machine, and they kindly agreed to disconnect the old one too. So they duly left it outside the back door and I was left wondering how long it'd be before I'd feel fit enough to lift it (with assistance of course, the days of me being able to lift a washing machine on my own are probably over) and take it to the recycling place 500 yards away.

I happened to be waiting for the engineer from Scottish Power to arrive on Wednesday morning when I heard what was the rear shutter of a van being opened or closed outside. I hobbled to the window to see if it was the engineer, only to discover a white transit luton parked outside and two scummy neds manhandling the old washing machine towards the back of it, while looking furtively around. I could see that the back of the van already contained various old looking white goods (cookers etc) so presumably the bold boys had been doing the rounds looking for stuff lying around to nick. I took their registration number, but to be honest it saved me the trouble of disposing of the thing myself so I didn't bother chasing them away.

Incidentally, can anyone confirm that the roadsign on the left has the correct spelling? I always thought that mews would be correct. It's directly across from The Observatory pub in Glasgow's Elderslie St. A nice little place to have a bite to eat and a drink, particularly if you can sit in the conservatory, from where the photo was taken.

At last it can be told

My offer has now been accepted and the necessary legal bits basically completed, so I am just about back on the housing ladder again. Hurrah!

I have to say I was feeling genuinely sick on the day I made the offer while waiting for the answer in case the offer was rejected. I feel pretty happy now that it seems all to be OK.

The entry date is Thursday 10th May, which seemed like ages away when the ball started rolling, but of course is now less than a couple of weeks. The flat is nice, and while there's some potential for improvements and changes, there's actually not very much needing done right away.

So where is it?

I was looking to remain in the west end of Glasgow, albeit I was very aware that the budget I am prepared to spend wouldn't get me much there. I like to think that the flat is in the Greater West End. It's actually in Clydebank, five and a half miles west of where I am now! It's close to Clydebank railway station and very near Dumbarton Road, so getting into the "real" west end should be easy.

The location of the flat is roughly 500 yards from the site of the John Brown Shipyard where various Cunard ships were built including the Royal Yacht Britannia, RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth & RMS QEII.