It's meant to be my annual Gentlemen's Christmas Shopping Night in a few hours but illness and age has withered the group down to me. As I don't fancy solo drinking in town this year's is postponed. Fear not though, here's a post I've rescued from my old blog site on this highly significant event.
The Festive Season is upon us already and the shops are open late, hoping to tempt us into spending more money. Is there really a credit crunch with added liquidity problems ?
The run up to Christmas sees the local shops open late on a Thursday evening to help those who can't go during the normal hours. Many years ago a friend and I took advantage of this and we still do to this very day. As we were young and fancy free back in the day we decided that after our respective shopping trips we'd meet up and review each other's purchases. As most of the shops are on Strand Street and cafe don't open late it was decided the meeting would take place in the Waterloo for ease.
I arrived early clutching one very small package only to find my shopping counterpart already at the bar and similarly unencumbered with festive ware but ready for a nights drinking. And "lo" as the angel said Gentlemen's Christmas Shopping Night was born. Just an excuse to have a couple of drinks with friends.
Over the years the night has expanded to take in a larger number of similarly minded folk. Anyone is welcome as long as they are carrying a small piece of Christmas related stuff, preferably purchased on the night. My favorite for some years was a string of tinsel but I now have more of this than I have tree to hang it from so my range of purchasing has extended to gift tags. New members of the shopping Night sometimes get carried away with the concept and actually bring proper shopping. Shame on you. You're a man in a pub.
Excess on the Shopping Night can cause the liquidity problems referred to earlier. Drink responsibly and just as importantly drink up, there's time for one more before last orders.
Originally posted Dec 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
On the Buses 111
You wait ages for a bus blog and then three come along in short order. You might want to read my previous blog on the Isle of Man's government owned bus company and it's desire to buy and run bendy buses.
From Bus Vannin's original announcements it appeared that any bendy buses would be used on selective general service routes through out the Island. Although why a vehicle with a capacity of 149 passengers was needed was never explained. The latest communication from bus HQ is that they plan to use these buses on school routes, replacing two double deckers with one bendy on popular school runs. As there are 49 seats that would mean that up to 100 children could be standing at any one time. I don't think safety has been looked at with this and also the cost of running these behemoths has not been revealed.
On the safety aspect in the UK it's generally agreed that it's one child; one seat hopefully with a seatbelt although this is where legislation gets complicated (doesn't it always) what age is the vehicle? Is it a bus or a coach? The Welsh Assembly has cut through this and made it compulsory for all school buses to be fitted with seat belts from October 2014.
It might be worth any parents asking the school, education authority and bus company:
If your child is standing on a school bus, you can complain , you can ask you local authority what their safety assessment is for this procedure, [ they must have a written safety assessment for this ] as in - How safe do they think this is, a child standing with school bags etc.- What would happen if the bus were to suddenly brake, how is your child protected-What happens to your child plus their bag which in fact become a a weapon to other passengers.
I took this wording from a UK school bus website.
It will all end in flames or a traffic island
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Douglas Bay
I was out for a brief stroll this morning. Just to blow the cobwebs away and stretch a few muscles. My route took me along Douglas Promenade. The bay looked fantastic. The water was as flat as a mill pond. A few yachts were doing their thing beyond the Tower of Refuge. In the far distance the hill of Cumbria were visible. Moving rapidly across the water was the RNLI lifeboat, it's throaty engines breaking the tranquility. A great winter's day in the Isle of Man.
I've no doubt though that at some stage next week 20 plus mph winds will drive rain into my face whichever way I turn.
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