Have been unbelievably slack on keeping this journal up to date, something I hope to rectify next year. Thought I would post some shots from the year so far.
A short snippet of the coast at El Golfo
Breakfast Views
Acutely aware that it is now mid-summer and that it has felt like a metaphorical 5 minutes since my last post. In an attempt to not have this journal / blog / thread / twitter feed (delete as appropriate) fall off the interwebs I thought I would post my breakfast view this morning.
The Fakirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel has just won a TripAdvisor People Choice award for 2023, so well done to the team in Falkirk Am very happy to be associated with such an engineering marvel and the whole Scottish Canals staff.
Rowing
I bought a Concept 2 rowing machine last year and although I didn’t use it as much as I would have liked I did finally start using it regularly at the start of this summer. The initial goal was to use it as part of an exercise routine to lose the ‘lockdown weight’ that I had gathered (thanks mostly to take out and junk food).
My routine on the rowing machine started at 30 minutes and to cover 6000m. As the weeks went by the distance increased to 6400m then 6600m and in my mind I started about whether 7000m would be possible. That is 1167 metres every five minutes. Initially it seemed like an impossible task, especially as the last five minutes was getting incredibly difficult to keep up a good pace.
As time went on through the summer I achieved a couple of personal best of 6945m and 6974m. Getting to within 36 metres was particularly disappointing, it was literally 6 seconds or a few strokes away from getting to the 7000m. Still undeterred I kept rowing and finally yesterday I managed 7009m in 30 minutes. To say I wa happy and totally exhausted was an understatement.
I have been trying to figure out what I have changed hat finally allowed me to get to this point, I noticed that on days that I didn’t have Huel for breakfast and some Icelandic Skyr for lunch coincided with days where my energy was lower and my times slower, I usually row around 5 - 7pm. Since the nights are now dark early I have stopped going out and power walking along the canal as well which I have made up by doing a second row for 10 minutes at as fast a pace as I can go. It would appear that the second row is helping out.
It does bring me to a new question though, what should I set as a new target..
As an other note, Isey Skyr is real icelandic skyr, no fat and lots of protein, it is not the same as the Skyr that you might by see in your normal grocery stores, the difference is amzing.
A summer and part of Autumn worth rowing
Thomas Alexander Neil
It has been two years today since my brother tragically left us for what lies beyond. It was something that shocked everyone that he knew and was a startling reminder of how precious and fragile life is. It has taken a long time for me to come to terms with and it has only been with time that I am even able to talk about it.
He was a bit older than me and even though I don’t remember us living in the same house for very long he was a fixture in my life, he was mischievous, loved watching his soap opera’s and always had a story. He was easy going, hard working and generous to a fault.
When I returned from living in The Netherlands I lived close to Tom and it saddens me that I didn’t see him more before he left. Nothing will ever alleviate the guilt I feel about this. So, if you are reading this and there is someone in your life that you haven’t seen or called in a while, do something about it.
Thomas Alexander Neil
Starbucks
Starbucks Logo
So, the first ‘real’ Starbucks opened in Falkirk this week. I call it a real Starbucks as it is not in a Cineworld that doesn’t allow you use your Starbucks card (and therefore doesn’t give you stars for free coffee). There is another Starbucks near Falkirk, but it is in a hospital, and recently they haven’t been keen on people popping in to the hospital for coffee, something to do with a virus.
It’s a fairly typical Starbucks, people meeting for chat, hipsters (yes even in Falkirk) writing on their MacBook’s and girls looking like they have just left a yoga class. Maybe you can answer this; do girls go to yoga classes to burn off enough calories so they can go to Starbucks afterwards for the 600 calorie frappacino? As a coffee purist it pains me waiting on coffee while people in front of me in the queue order drinks that take what seems like an eternity to make.
It is 10 degrees outside and their coffee has ice in it, like seriously, do they know what country they are in?
I digress.
Starbucks Falkirk
This location started out as a Sony Store, which turned in to a Carphone Warehouse and is now a Starbucks. I can already tell there are probably more people in this location now than at any time in the two previous incarnations.
I find the seats here lacking comfort, am sure they are designed to maximise customer turnover. The hipsters are unbothered by such things like comfort, as long as there is a WiFi connection and a mirror somewhere to groom their beard.
So what brings me to Starbucks on a repetitive basis? It is the knowledge that I know exactly what I am getting and how it will taste and the comfort and memories that are rejuvenated with it. Every skinny triple shot grande latte that I have ever bought has tasted pretty much the same.
I do not care that 99% of their beans are ethically sourced.
This is not to say that I am not adventurous, it’s just sometimes you want a taste of what you know. So welcome Starbucks, to Falkirk, may your water run hot and your beans grow plentiful.