Disappointed, Surprised, Scared.....

Disappointed, Surprised, Scared.....

In keeping with the same story line since I have returned from the United Kingdom....Well, Scotland.....

I was surprised at several things.

Yes, Deb and I had been to Scotland before, but we never went above Loch Lomond. We never left the lowlands.

Disappointed?

Few things, not many, but a few.

- We did not make the Orkney Islands. The ferry system was so bad, and so few ferries running, we just could not book a trip over. They ran 2 times a day. Basically back and forth.

- I was surprised at how touristy some places were. I guess with Outlander, the TV show, the amount of people traveling to Scotland has caused it, especially to the castles and sites shown on the TV show.

- It was a bit warmer than we expected. We got hot at night several times. We are not used to a duvet as cover, and while I am sure they are wonderful in the winter, they were too much for September.

Surprised?

- I was shocked at the number of Chinese on the Isle of Skye. They even had buses painted in Chinese symbols for the visitors from the Far East. There were so many Chinese in places, I could have sworn we were in Hong Kong.

- The Scots don't drink whisky like I expected. Yes, they drink beer, but their favorite "hard" liquor is gin. They drink gin and at pubs, bars, the amount of gin bottles outnumbered whisky bottles 5-1.

- I was surprised at how friendly I found the people. Just glad to get that Yankee Dollar probably. I am sure some just wanted to speak to a person with a bad Southern "twang" and some looked at me like, " People really do speak like this."

- I was surprised that there were not as many castles as Ireland. In Ireland, some folks had castle ruins in their backyards.  Don't get many wrong, plenty of castles, just not as many.

- We were surprised at how many bales of hay there were in the eastern section of the nation. And how much land was growing beets, for sugar production. Yes, there were sheep, hell, we even saw some orange sheep( They are dyed to prevent theft), but we were amazed at how much of the country was in cattle production.

- Condoms in the men's rooms. I mean, every man's room. I know I have blogged on this earlier, but you know, we need this in America.

- I expected to be "wowed," but the Scottish landscape was simply amazing. 

Scared?

-The only time I felt afraid was on the roadway. The one line highways and people still driving 60mph is unnerving. I know they are use to it, but you know, stopping on a dime with a 400 foot drop to your left, and pulling into a cutout to allow a greyhound sized tour bus pass.

If you are considering traveling overseas, and you are afraid of the entire "Europe" trip, try Scotland. They do speak the language, you can rent a car without an International Driver's License. Their food is not strange. You don't have to get a breakfast with haggis. They have stuff like waffles or pancakes with bacon, or Eggs Benedict. Or just a plain Danish and coffee. The dinner type meals are not that strange. It is stuff you can get here, and every place has a hamburger or a chicken sandwich on the menu. There will be a chicken breast in cream sauce with mashed potatoes and vegetable on the side. And the "chips" ( French fries) are so much better than anything you can get here. They all take Visa and Master Card ( No Discover sadly)...There is wireless internet, better internet in more rural places than here, and better service.

Make the Call

I often have a hard time making a call.

And I've been thinking about this for several days now. It was even a topic of considerable thought and contemplation on the flight back from Europe.....

And I took into consideration which I preferred going to. 

Ireland......

Or Scotland......

Both, I love and while my people are from both, and both are lovely, both with the people and the landscape, I think the final consideration came to....

Which trip did I love more?

Both are my top two places to I've visited( so far) in the world.....

I am going to make the call in this way.....

If I could move to either Ireland or Scotland, which would I chose?

Oh, it is close.....

I am going to pick Scotland by a nose. The Isle of Mull I literally loved. I could see me in the Church of Scotland, every other Sunday( The towns share a pastor, not enough people.) and besides, in Scotland, you get haggis and Orkney Ale....

Both are great. If you get to visit, I would suggest Scotland first, but you could not go wrong in Ireland.

Was Given Hell This Morning.......

I guess I need to do a " State of the Blog" address/blog this morning......

I guess I am going to be dragged into a more "political" type blog over the next few weeks, months. 

We've tried to avoid it as much as we can over the last few months, it sometimes( politics) is too much like going to work again.

That said, we listed to the British Political mess while we were in Scotland. It was all over the news....And to a lesser extent, so was out politics. Say what you want, for the last 100+ years, the US and Britain have been tied together in many events, mostly foreign affairs.

Part of the reason why I stopped doing national politics is so many people on both sides of the spectrum are stuck in their beliefs.

I blame the national media, all of it, talk radio, all of it, and people just not doing research on their own....Stuck in that echo chamber.

In the next few days I will address the impeachment....You don't know where this is going to lead, nor do I. We are in the start of a situation that could burn bright, or fizzle out.

I have a funny feeling we're all going to say, " What the hell happened to us?"

I also have a blog or two coming out on the Buna ISD.

I'm sure it will " Harelip the Governor" and some people associated with the Buna ISD.

In the last 24 hours, I have had some people upset because I think condoms should be more available....."You're just telling teens, it is okay to have sex....."

Sorry, the genie is out of the bottle. Long out.....Hell, it's been out since human's started. I taught high school 30 years, they had sex the entire time I was teaching. ( Yes, I know people still wait until they marry, I know, I was one, but I am not going to be foolish enough to tell a 25 year old person to wait until they marry. That's their call, not mine.)

I've been to Europe and I am about to start the blog back pretty strong.

Remember the Rachel Rule: At some people I am going to upset you. Get ready.

Seriously, We Need These America

Now, I know, some of you religious folks don't think this should occur. Or that this is just bad morally.

For whatever reason.

It's the old " head in the sand" syndrome.

I am not kidding here....

Every men's room in Scotland I went into had a condom machine.

And mostly they were the natural " lamb skin" condoms. They were made from the intestines of the sheep.

Hell, I do not think I have seen a "natural" lamb skin condom outside of a package.....much less used a lamb skin condom...

They were all 3 condoms for £3.

Even the airport bathrooms had the machines. ( Mile high club? Got off the plane and was going straight to the girlfriend's house, to go and see the wife? Or both? I know some people do not understand the need for condoms if you are married, but some folks can't use other methods, or any number of reasons...Or sometimes married folks forget to get a prescription, or forget to see the doctor.....etc....etc....)

They were in grocery store restrooms. In pay water closets, I even saw a machine in a bookstore's bathroom. 

It's 2019. You know, I understand people in the Evangelical world don't want people to be having sex outside of marriage, but you know, they already are.....And we need to try and stop unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

I think they should have them in the faculty restroom at schools...No, not to take advantage of your high school age students.....

You just need them when you're getting 'screwed' by the school administration...Just an added layer of protection....

 But seriously, readily available, cheap condoms?

Not a bad idea.

But we won't do it in this country....Too many people can't handle it...

One Hell of a Trip

I upset a few folks when I cuss in the title. ....They just don't know me I guess? And that the " Cuss Porch" was a real place. And many of you visited it....On a regular basis.

If you ever have the opportunity in your life.

Visit Scotland.

I'm not talking about Edinburgh.....Or that "White Trash" toilet Glasgow.....We never were south of St. Andrews this past trip. ( Fife for those playing at home)

Oh, go to Edinburgh, it is the traditional "major" and historic city, but we stayed this time in the Highlands. But we've been to Edinburgh before...

Wow, just wow.

It was a combination of Arkansas mountains, Colorado mountains, Northern Idaho mountains at various times.

It is gorgeous. No other word, gorgeous.

There is so much there, so much to see. It is simply amazing.

Castles, historical battle sites, sea coasts, mountains, small towns that look like they came out of Victorian Britain( they did)...and really, really cool islands off the Western coast.

The food is so close to what we eat. Yes, they serve haggis for breakfast, you can get haggis burgers, they even stuff it into chicken breasts. ( Haggis: a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep's or calf's offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach. Offal...is liver, sweetbreads, heart, lung)

I will fight you for haggis. And haggis is illegal in America. (You can't import at food made with sheep lung to America.)

Haggis is tasty. I ate it almost every morning with my " Full Scottish Breakfast." ( grease fried eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, haggis, Heinz beans, tomato, potato tattie, heavy buttered toast....It is a salute to cholesterol....It is great.)
( Black Pudding? Black pudding is a type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats or barley groats.)

I will also fight you for black pudding. 

It is a wonder my 62 year old body did not say " enough" and I just killed over....I would have died happy.

You eat at pubs. British pubs are what Chili's, Appleby's, TGI Friday's, etc, etc are based upon. Except, pubs are generally locally owned. Each has a different flair.

But most food on the menu was what you would recognize.....fish and chips( fried fish and fried potatoes), a chicken or beef pot pie, steaks, burgers, pasta, a curry( it is Britain)

Yes, I drank tea like I was British for breakfast, Deb had coffee.

And I may or may not have had a pint or two while eating my evening meals. ( Try the local brews. I found an ale from the Orkney Islands I loved.)

We visited whisky distilleries. They are all over Scotland. You can't drive 10 miles with finding one on the eastern section of the country. Might have taken a dram or two...Or not....

We visited St Andrew's University and the Cathedral ruins in that city. St Andrew's University was only founded in 1413.

We were amazed at the amount of Chinese in Scotland. On the Isle of Skye, we ate supper one evening at a " specialty" restaurant with only 12 tables. 5 of the tables were all Chinese. We had Langostino for supper that night, might have been the best evening meal.

If you go anyplace, rent a car. yes you drive on the left, but you adapt quickly. The wheel is on the right side of the car.  Yes, we had a BMW sports car. Yes, hell for the old Govteach to get in and out of, but was just what the roads in Scotland needed. Most curved roads in the world, and the BMW hugged the curves like no one's business. As Bryant Long said, " BMW's are made to be driven." Yes they are....

Scotland, especially in the west, is full of one lane roads. You had cut-outs to pull over to let people pass.  It was scary, especially when there was a 500 foot drop to your left when you pulled over, and an 18 wheeler was going by you...I planned to see Jesus at many points.

If you go, travel to Glen Coe ( Not to be confused with Glynco, the US Marshal's training site)  gorgeous drive, ending in the city of Ft. William. Mountains, mountains, you'll swear you are in the Rockies.

Do, the Isle of Mull. I loved Mull, even priced real estate there.  Most diverse landscape ever. If you got to Mull, take a ferry to Iona, see Fingal's Cave. ( Yes, Miss Vicki, we played Fingal's Cave at Vidor)

Could we understand the Scots? Yes, I could. even those with the thick, thick accent. And sadly, I hammed it up and the East Texas accent came out when I talked to them...You can take the boy outta  East Texas, but you can't take the East Texas outta the boy. 

Scotland? Love it. If EVER have the chance, go....

Our next trip?

Jew World....AKA Israel, Holy Land.....My wife needs to make her pilgrimage, crusade,  to Jerusalem.( I still think when Jesus returns, he's coming to East Texas first....Some nit-wit will write me an ugly note for that statement)....She's taken me to the UK 3 times in the last 5 years....

It's her turn. ( That said, she LOVED Scotland, she has ancestry roots there too.)

More later.....

But Where The Hell You Gonna Go?

I'm back.

Long strange trip.

Actually, Scotland was wonderful, and will write a separate blog on it probably tomorrow.

Second major flood in three years.

People are still out of the homes in this area.

I was just able to return to the Compound in the last few hours.

I want to once again thank everyone for their concern.

Especially Paige Stark, literally,  years ago, who would have known I would consider some of you my friend.

Paige kept an eye on the Compound, checked and got someone to take her in a 4x4 to make sure the place had not flooded.

I owe her major....I may have to kill someone, and it's been awhile since I've been involved in a homicide....well, since that unfortunate ax incident years ago off the Mansfield Ferry Rd. South of Vidor...( Some one will think the last part is real...)

I've had a few people ask if I needed help "gutting the place."

No, the Compound is "high and dry." We've literally been blessed in the last two storms.

But, there are people now talking about leaving the area......And to be honest, we've talked about it, and well, one day, when we get older, we'll need to downsize and move wherever the kids are living.( Might be China? Seriously)

But now, why move?

Family is here.

Hell, y'all are here. And say what you want, I am East Texas. ( I know this because people in Scotland spoke to us ( me) just to hear the accent. I don't think, they thought people actually sound like this.....)

But seriously, we are always under the gun from the Gulf.

Where you going to go?

We looked at property in Scotland. Sell here, and move to Mull.....Or Sky.....Or a place in the Highlands.( Loved the Isle of Mull, was my favorite place on the trip) The places in the Highlands are cheaper than you think.

But, we don't know a soul there.

We'd always be the hillbillies with university degrees....Outsiders....People with the funny accents....

Oh, we will someday follow the grandkids. If they ever materialize.........If.

But right now, I was born here, I went to school here, worked most of my life here, and probably will die here.

Blog on Scotland tomorrow.