Goodbye 2008

Mum's funeral this afternoon, so I can't imagine I will be joining any revellers this evening for The Bells.
Got ready far too early for the funeral, hence this last post of 2008 - killing time with a lightning fast brief review of the year. The big events? International - Obama. National - the credit crunch. Local - the Fairer Scotland Fund saga. Domestic - sadly, that's obvious.
2008 is a year I won't forget, but I won't be recalling it with too many fond memories. However I don't want to make this last post too sombre, so best wishes to all my (okay, both my) loyal readers - here's to a happy 2009.
Incidentally, for those of you who sent best wishes for 2008 - those wishes clearly didn't work, so this year please send vouchers, fags, after shave,cash or even socks!

Hope 2009 brings everything you wish for - all the best.

A very different Christmas

My mum passed away in the early hours of Monday morning, peacefully at the end. We were called to the hospital early on Friday morning, and after discussions with the surgeon and anaesthetist accepted that there was little more that could be done for Mum - she was too frail to withstand an operation, and that an operation - even in the slim chance it was successful - would not improve her quality of life. We accepted that it would be the last act of kindness we could give my Mum was to make her as comfortable and pain-free as possible, and to let her slip away.
And slip away she eventually did, mercifully having had the chance to see and talk to all of her family while she was still lucid.
Keeping busy by organising all those things that have to be organised helps to keep your mind off Mum's passing, and that will be the way of it until the funeral next week - who knows how we'll all cope after that.
Nothing compensates for the loss of such a dear loved one, but if there is a comfort it's in knowing that she spent her life doing what she loved most - caring for her family. And in knowing that her homely wisdom and inherent goodness has been passed on to her grandchildren who all thankfully had the time to get to know her so well. Some other families don't always get that chance and I'm grateful that our children did. She may be gone, but she lives on in all of us.

So Christmas was so very different this year - all of my planned shopping trips were obviously cancelled, but Knutt kindly became my personal shopper and bought presents while I was at the hospital. Life does go on, and Christmas Day was spent down at Cardrona with family and I don't feel guilty in saying it was a lot of fun.

New Year will be oh so different too. Next week we have the funeral and we'll say goodbye. Heartbroken? Yes, but also so grateful to have lived my life with a mother who cared so much for all of us.

Thanks, Mum, for everything.

Back to reality

'The man who grows tired of London is a man who has grown tired of life'. So said Samuel Johnston back in the 18th century, and I'll echo that sentiment. It's an amazing city - full of life, constantly buzzing and teeming with busy people rushing everywhere. No-one stands still for long, unless you're a tourist.
Not much sign of a credit crunch in the affluent West End - the Coal Hole, my Strand local, was heaving with city types enjoying long pre-Christmas lunches and office nights out. Covent Garden was as busy as ever, and if shoppers weren't spending as much it wasn't apparent. As ever there were throngs of people in Theatre Land, and it's only much later into the night - long after the curtains have fallen and long after happy revellers have headed home to bed - when the other side of the city is revealed. Just off the bright lights of The Strand doorways and recesses are quickly filled with homeless people sleeping in cardboard boxes, the luckier ones with their own sleeping bags. London was freezing last week - and with so much affluence everywhere you turn, it's not a place where you'd want to be poor.

So it was cold, but it was bright and perfect weather for walks around all the usual tourist destinations - apart from the tour buses it's the best way to see and get to know the city - and we didn't have to rely on the Underground so much last week. Not that I've got any issues with public transport down there - to me the Tube is one of the wonders of the modern world.

Took in two shows during our trip - 'We Will Rock You', which for fans of Queen was probably everything you would want it to be, and 'Piaf', which was being staged just a minute's walk from our hotel. Having read great reviews of the show - and also great praise from Andrew Marr on his Sunday morning show a couple of weeks back - I'd planned to book tickets for 'Piaf' before we went down to London, but with everything else going on I hadn't got round to it. Indeed, even when we arrived, I was almost put off buying tickets by one learned critic (who was selling discounted theatre tickets from a booth in Covent Garden). "It's crap", he said. "Ain't even a proper musical!" Anyway I'm glad we didn't take his advice - the show was stunning, with Elena Roger's performance - she was on stage throughout the entire 90 minutes - spellbinding. 'Piaf' was as moving a stage show as you'll find anywhere, so if you get the chance - ignore the touts, go!

Much as the London trip was as enjoyable as ever, reality always intrudes and real life is never far away. My mum was taken back into hospital again while we were away - the Western this time - and it was straight to hospital when we got back to Edinburgh. Other than hospital visits (I even gave up my ticket for Easter Road on Saturday and missed the resurgent Hibs winning again), much of the remainder of the weekend has been taken up with tackling a massive email inbox - lots and lots of lovely Fairer Scotland Fund related items, naturally. London is quickly becoming a distant memory.

It's back to work tomorrow, with another deputation to prepare for and look forward (?) to on Thursday. Real life has returned with a vengeance - actually, it's never really been away.

Countdown

It's my last day at work today - I'm off to London for a few days next week and the break can't come soon enough. The long, long Fairer Scotland Fund saga is taking it's toll and I feel absolutely knackered. I go to sleep thinking about Fairer Scotland Funding, I wake up thinking about Fairer Scotland Funding and I suppose I dream about Fairer Scotland Funding too. It seems I've done nothing else but eat, sleep and talk FSF for months now - and it's still not over. I won't trouble you with all the latest updates as I'm even beginning to bore myself - but if you are really desperate to read more, see the front page of this month's NEN for the full details (just out, available free in all community outlets and distributed free across North Edinburgh - well, for the moment at least.)
There will be more to come on FSF in Forth; it's a live story and things are happening at different levels, but it would be unwise for me to comment on these developments at this time. So I won't.

Chancellor's Pre-Budget Statement
As I so rightly predicted in my last post, the Chancellor did indeed have an ace up his sleeve last week - and yes, it was National Insurance! The only bit I got slightly wrong was that he is raising NHI, not reducing it - but other than that, spot on!

Wogan No More
I freely admit to being a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest - the crap songs, the dodgy voting, the splendid tackiness of it all - but it just won't be the same next year. Terry Wogan is standing down after 35 years. In all his years of broadcasting, Eurovision was surely Terry's finest hour(s). Good luck, Graham Norton - it's a hell of a hard act to follow. Pehaps a change of presenter will bring a change to the UK's fortunes in the event? - nah, I don't think so either.

Karen Matthews
I watched the BBC's documentary on the truly awful Matthews case last night - one of the most depressing things I have sat through for a long time, almost like lifting a scab. 'Horrific' is an over-used word, but there are few others than can describe the ordeal a mother was willing to put her own daughter through. Karen Matthews will, rightly, spend a long time in prison - but that in itself doesn't solve anything.
One image will stay with me for a long time - and it isn't the footage of the mother pleading for her 'baby' to come home, sickening as that was. No, it was the grainy CCTV image of Shannon Matthews leaving a swimming pool with her classmates - last to leave, walking on her own - that summed the whole sorry story for me. What a tragic wee life. Shannon and presumably her six brothers and sisters have been failed by their parents and by the social services system. You've really got to hope that the support will be there for her now, and that an innocent wee girl will now get the chance to rebuild her life and start living again.

And finally ...
Tidying up the desk, clearing up the paperwork in neat(er) piles and a couple of wee festive jobs to cover today. Then it's an Edinburgh Community Representatives Network event on Saturday (more festive frolics, although I must admit I feel anything but festive or jolly at the moment). Then it's Hibs v Celtic on Sunday - I wonder what Hibs team will turn up? Will it be the Three Kings - Riordan, Fletcher and Nish - banging in goals aplenty, or will Hibs defence show seasonal generosity, bearing gifts for Celtic's strikers (who usually don't need that much help anyway)? You just never know down at Easter Road.
There's a winter chill down at Tynecastle too - not caused by the December temperatures. Some players haven't been paid again and creditors are banging on Vlad's door. Goodwill to all men? Here's hoping that Wise Man from the East can get his house in order - the Hearts community deserves better than this- some seasonal cheer is in order.