Inverness in the Rain

June 16, 2005 Inverness, Scotland 49 degrees F. Delightful! The events of this morning are behind us, we are all safely now in Inverness. We will scatter briefly to obtain food from a variety of eateries. We all have our differing views on the "best" food, so off I go to a pub. Because, for me, the best food is accompanied by a good Scottish bitter. Others went to a Thai restraunt they'd espied; others to an Italian/French bistro and yes, some went to McDonald's. There was, after all, a 7-year old with us. This photo was taken down High Street in Inverness while we were establishing where to go & when to meet back. What is more quintessentially Scottish than High Street in the rain in June? Wastrel On! (Listening to: Für Elise (Techno Remix) by Ludwig van Beethoven)

On the Trip to Inverness

The morning started grey & dreary & full of excitement. We were leaving New Milne as an entire group and headed to Inverness. The excitement didn't fade as we neared the train station in Perth; in fact it grew in intensity as we realized that there were no parking spots. Three cars, 17 people and no parking spots. The drivers took off to park. George & Joseph in one car, Desiree in another and I took the third. George & Joseph found a spot pretty quickly and were returning to the depot while I expressed woes & concerns to Marita Beth who had just purchased our train tickets. Joseph jumped in the car with me and directed me to where he & George had just parked. Nearby & handy. Sadly, no sign of Desiree. With 5 minutes til train time, still no sign of Desiree so KyleF & I walked down the street a ways in the direction we were pretty sure she had taken. Eventually we did indeed spot her way off in the distance, a good 800+ meters away. KyleF moved toward her and I went back to teh station to inform our waiting passengers that she was visible, at least, if not close. Less than 2 minutes to go, everyone but Marita Beth, Alison & Kara moved to the platform. We would take a later train, if necessary. I returned to KyleF, Desiree was nearly there, and said, "we can make it, if we run." Desiree took off, up the hill, around the corner into the station. As soon as they saw us, our waiting companions took off toward the platform. MB said, "the train is late, we might still make it." We redoubled our efforts and arrived on the platform. Empty. Devoid of persons and trains. Our excitement turned inward upon itself and mutated into despair. Then, "Kyle! Hurry, the train's coming!" It was Ed and his magnificient booming voice urging up the bridge, over the tracks, down the stairs and onto a different platform. Our legs straining, our lungs heaving, we ran on. To the sound of our friend's & family's applause, we made the platform just before the train did. Despair had again retreated to be replaced by the excitement promised by a train ride through Scottish countryside. And we were not to be disappointed. This photo was taken through the window of the moving train as we slowed down to enter a station (I fear I don't recall the name of the small village). The scenery was only going to get more beautiful as we went. Wastrel On! (Listening To: The Godfather Soundtrack)

Shutterfly | Help

Shutterfly? Run away! The worst photo services company around. Here's my story. I have a Shutterfly account. Opened earlier this year to accommodate the 1400+ photos I took while on holiday in Scotland. I recently contacted Shutterfly to find out how to obtain one of the original high-resolution images that I had uploaded rather than the 96 DPI images they show online. I was informed that I have to purchase it on CD and they would mail it to me, and that there was no other mechanism in place to provide to ME MY original files. It beggars belief! Nor do I find this information in their policies & procedures Lies & Riddles. I feel like I was a victim of the bait and switch tactic I decided to go ahead and try and deal with the lower resolution files, so I took a look at their FAQ to determine the best way to extract the image. The FAQ very clearly says to Right-Click and Save As the image to my computer. To wit: *Note that you can save a lower-resolution version of the picture by using the right mouse button to click on an image in your account and selecting the 'Save picture as' or 'Save image as' option. (If you are using a Macintosh hold down the control key while clicking.)* I did so only to find upon opening the file that what I chose to save and what I received from the Shutterfly server were very different files. Another email to tech support, yipppeee! This time around, the response was, and I quote: "Please note that what you are trying to do isn't a general use feature on our site, so this is probably something that won't be fixed." My response to them, in much more polite & professional terms was "fuck off." It's a very good thing that I burned my holiday images to CD before uploading them. It's a very good thing there are other services out there that accomplish the same thing as Shutterfly. In this age of "everyone's a publisher," I cannot fathom the company that does not do everything within their power to ensure that they keep their customer base happy & placated. Suffice it to say, I have had enough of Shutterfly and encourage everyone to remove your account and shun their business.

The Great Stairs at New Milne

Perthshire, Scotland. New Milne House sits on approximately 700 acres of land that borders on Scone Palace. It was our house for a week, a glorious, short week. This photo is a look up the stairs from the foyer, and down the stairs from the landing outside my room. Exquisite Scottish polished wood stairs & bannisters matched by polished wood walls. When standing looking up the stairs to the immediate left is the game room and just beyond that the formal dining hall. To the right is the sitting room where much of our after-hours gathering was done. Behind the stairs to the right were 2 bedrooms that housed the Fords, Alison & Kara. Up the stairs to the right was Ginger's room while to the left was everyone else except Marita Beth & myself. It was our 10-year anniversary, it was Marita Beth's contacts & planning that made the entire thing possible, so we took the top room. Glorious! Wastrel On! (Listening To: Night Fever by the Bee Gees)