Back again

Sorry its been a full month since my last posting. A lot has happened and life has been busy, fun and hectic.

Work wise I expect to meet myself coming back sometime next week as I seem to be travelling all over the place. Shouldn't complain as I would find it intolerable to go into the same office every single day. Today we have our Christmas party - what larks? Going to Le Monde on Gearge Street to overeat, overdrink and make a fool of myself - no change there. I have also done a couple of training courses which have been quite challenging, enjoyable and have also motivated me - which is obviously giving my employer a return on the investment, a win - win situation there.

I have also spent some time travelling between Edinburgh and Newcastle for social reasons, its always nice to go home. I had a fabulous night out in the Powerhouse in Newcastle when John and Edward Grimes (of X Factor fame) were on. I didn't go out until 10.30 in the evening and was still going at 4 am, a real triumph for an oldie like me. The atmosphere was electric and it proved to be one of the most enjoyable nights out in 2009.

As we approach Christmas I find myself getting annoyed at what I describe as 'political correctness gone mad', I firmly believe in respect for the dignity of every human person no matter what there race, colour or creed, but... I get rather annoyed when I see signs saying 'Happy Holidays' this is rather funny really because in attempting to deny the Christian nature of the primary celebration at this time of year in Western Europe they use an adaptation of another Christian phrase 'Holy Day!' (That's one for the advertisers to think about). An article by Yasmin Alibi-Brown (hope I got the spelling right) picked up on the same subject last week and put some of the blame quite firmly back into the hands of those doing the most complaining and to an extent I agree with her. We can have winter lights in our town centres and share them with our friends and colleagues who celebrate other religious festivals at this time of year, they don't need to be exclusively Christmas lights - fair point. However, if you want to send a greeting card because you are celebrating on 25 December at least have the decency to acknowledge the fact that you are celebrating Christmas. Enough of a rant on that subject.

The credit crunch seems to be hitting harder in national terms, we are seeing predicted cuts in expenditure in public services here in Britain. I am thankful that we are not part of the European currency. I have friends in Ireland who work in the public sector and some of them are taking pay cuts of up to 14%. Ireland, like all other members of the European currency does not have the same fiscal flexibility as Britain and they are feeling the pain of the recession in a very direct way. I am unsure as to whether we will be able to avoid that situation or if we are simply delaying it. Last week's pre-budget report was a real disappointment to me. It certainly had pre-election written all over it and does not appear to me to address the current financial situation at all. I don't approve of borrowing our way out of recession, in the end we have to pay for it.

Yesterday was rather enjoyable, a team day at work where we all got together to take stock - where are we now and what about the future - I really did enjoy the interaction with a range of colleagues. It snowed most of the day here in Edinburgh, fortunately it did not lie on the streets but Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park looked rather splendid with a dusting of snow over it. It kind of put me in the right mood for our works do today.

I hope to get back before the end of the year, unfortunately I am not that reliable with this blog just now so I am taking this opportunity to offer you all the compliments of the season. May you all have a very Happy Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. For those of you who will not be offended let us rejoice: 'Christus Natus Est!'