When the wind blows
BIT blowy across Scotland yesterday. As Paul Howard put it: “Early signs of spring - a flock of wheelie bins just sailed overhead.”
Filling forms religiously
WE mentioned plans to knock down the old Western Infirmary, and Tim Huntingford recalls: “Going to the Western in the middle of the night in the 1970s with acute ear ache, I reported to a big man behind a wee window.
“He went through my details, and finally asked for my religion. ‘None’, I replied. This was clearly not acceptable, so, presumably on account of my accent, he wrote down ‘Church of England’. Fair enough, I thought. For many Scots the C of E is probably the nearest religion one can get to atheism, so, perhaps since it took my mind off the earache, I let it pass.”
Taking care of curfew
AND former student nurse Ailsa Jensen tells us: “In1966 in the Western Infirmary Glasgow (always ‘The Wig’ to us ) we had to live in the nurses home but as we became more senior and ‘trustworthy’ the move to a room in the attic was considered by matron. So it was that despite only one midnight pass a week, and one 2am in a month, it was possible to stretch the rules by entering through the hospital rather than the nurses’ home entrance which was guarded at ALL times by the home sister.”
A dressing down
MORE on taxis at the festive season as Donald Currie in Prestwick passes on a conversation heard by a taxi driver with two young women in the back after their office Christmas party. One of the girls was in tears and when her pal asked why she was upset she replied: “I heard her talking about me, saying, ‘Does she only own one outfit?’”
The Donald trumps himself
DONALD Trump held his first major press conference since being elected in America. We note an Amanda Stanley who watched it commenting on social media: “I’ve heard conversations in Glasgow taxi queues at 4am that make more sense than this.”
Wizard tale
NEIL in Hull tells us: “My son’s friend Ian thought his teacher liked his story because she wrote ‘Magic ian!’ in the margin. Sadly, she was correcting his spelling of magician.”
Conversation starter
OUR tale of University Challenge reminds Malcolm McCalister: “Terence O’Neill, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, once said that at formal functions when he told people his job, they often moved on to someone else they thought might be more interesting. So he changed tack and said he was Bamber Gascoigne’s uncle. They were all over him like a rash.”
A sure bet for Sturgeon
THE things you can bet on. Internet bookies Betway is offering odds on which celebrity will be the first to phone former Ukip leader Nigel Farage while he is presenting his new radio show on LBC. Among the favourites are Russell Brand and former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
The longer odds you might be interested in? First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at 50/1 and president-elect Donald Trump at a more fanciful 500/1. Come on Nicola. Put a tenner on yourself, give him a bell, and give the £500 to charity.
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