Page 52 - James Pirie News

Are You Sitting on a Mountain Million of Small Change?

Spring Cleaning Cleans Up

THE RIVER BANK- REVISITED!

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and...

Booze Cruise

Take A Dram Instead

If you ever watch ITV then you will be aware of River Cruises and be worried that you may enter their demographic sometime and start to feel warm and cuddly at the thought of a cruise up the Rhine or down the Danube. Ooh No!

The wife and I often joke about whether we are old enough to be worried yet. So far we are okay, but ageing everyday of course.

But then there...

Parking Charges- It’s Officially a Rip Off

Some Scottish Councils Profiteer at Your Expense

Have you ever wondered why you are penalised when you park the car and go shopping, maybe overstaying by a tiny bit and then the might of parking enforcement descends upon you in the only bit of Scots law that allows a disproportionate response to the offence, i.e. the parking fine.

Wracked by the Council

It’s...

The Small Comic Who Never Short Changed Anyone

Ronnie Corbett Sadly Missed

Now you’ll be hard pushed to find a more engaging and likeable entertainer than Ronnie Corbett who starred in the David Frost Show, The Two Ronnies and my all time favourite Sorry, yes that dates me. Well we need to remember all that was wonderful about the Edinburgh born man who graced our screens over 50 years.

Some Jokes...

A Rose by Any Other Name

What’s Your Nickname?

Well you’ll have heard of Auld Reekie, I’ve written about a few times before, but what about the other places in this nation? Or if you are in the second city it is the Dear Green Place.

One of my favourites is East Kilbride alias the Polo Mint City because it is a city of roundabouts. Think I am kidding, in the town planning day mare that is E K there...

If You Want to Splash the Cash

Don’t Spend it on Housemates

The good people of Scotland are picking up the tab for other people. One of those surveys, you know the kind, has found that Scots spend nearly £700 a year paying for stuff for other people.

That’s when they aren’t arguing about who cleans the dishes or hoovers the floor. The survey reveals, have you noticed how they always reveal something...

Just When the Journey Got Better

Not a Tunnel of Love

If you use Glasgow's Queen Street Station you may have to allow more time for your journey. Well the Fourth Bridge is open, they had to find a new way to stun and annoy Scottish commuters. Major tunnel renovation will mean that there are five months of the delays. A high-level tunnel used by Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Stirling services is now shut...

Clocks Go Forward-Sleep Less

A Case of the Missing Hour

Hi just in case you forgot at 1am on Easter Sunday, the clocks will move forward by one hour, marking the start of British Summer Time. So you lose an hour’s sleep! Great! It happens every year, the clocks are put forward an hour on the last Sunday in March, and then put back an hour on the last Sunday in October. So this year summer time will...

Oh Dear Teenagers Are Unhappy

Survey of Young Grizzlers

It seems our young people are miserable when compared to the rest of the world. And if you are a parent, aunt or uncle then you will have been exposed to their teenage angst. If your only experience of ‘yoof’ is Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke in Kevin and Perry Go Large then you have escaped lightly.

It Takes a Worried Kid

British teenagers worry...

Kevin the Donkey

In Need of Love

One of the highlights of my holiday last year was the walks along the river Aude in Carcassonne last year. We would walk from the Rue Pont Vieux all along the river bank and then keeping the river on the left walk several kilometres with the sun burnishing our brows, or occasionally the wind whipping the rain against our waterproofs, being from Northern climes we always...