445.
I had an extremely lazy day today. During breakfast I watched the BBC morning news about the life and times of Edward Heath, a former Conservative prime minister whose main claims to fame were power cuts, the three day week, Morning Cloud, the UCS shipyard sit in, Britain joining the then Common Market (now EU) and an unbridled hatred of Margaret Thatcher (so he wasn't all bad, I suppose). Ted Heath died last night, aged 89 - quite possibly the last of the 'One Nation' Tories, and quite possibly the most left-wing prime minister this country is ever going to have (he did nationalise Rolls-Royce, after all!). Next to the present occupant of 10 Downing Street, Ted Heath comes across almost as a socialist! The only problem with the morning news is that it is a rolling broadcast, and every 15 minutes or so, they cover the same story. Time to change the channel, just in time for Everybody Loves Raymond - a classic American sitcom that hasn't (yet) become mired in the gratuitous sentimentality that spoiled so many others (e.g. Rosanne and Cheers to name but two). Morning ritual over, I retired to my study to do some work. I managed to phone the property developer about the long-running driveway saga - which appears to be coming to its conclusion at long last - and my lawyer, also about the long-running driveway saga. It is all supposed to be done and dusted by Thursday, when the ironmonger is coming to erect the gates. We shall see. I have a feeling the developer, who has always spoken 'with a forked tongue', will come up with another reason not to do the work by Thursday. My employers also 'speak with forked tongue' - or so it seems. They tell me that the situation will be resolved within the next 2-3 days 'no máximo', and that the problem has been caused by staff shortages because of holidays. Two problems with this excuse: (1) the situation has been ongoing since January - so if there is a staff problem that is down to bad management planning; (2) I have heard this same story - that it will be resolved in 2-3 days - at least four times since the end of May... yet here we still are, no further forward. They have until the end of the week, then I will have to consider legal action. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I managed to do some work this afternoon, although my heart wasn't really in it, and I was finding it difficult to concentrate. Getting a letter from the hospital giving me an appointment to discuss my MRI scan results and treatment options did not help my mood much. You see, the appointment is for 1 September. My initial assessment was 27 April, then the scan was 30 June. Now I have to wait another 6 weeks. Outrageous is what this is. In a fury, I had to get out and go for a drive. I decided to head over to St Andrews. Some good luck for once! The golf finished yesterday!

I went to Edzell on this day last year