View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Wednesday 22 October 2008

9 days to go

I am emailing the following people, but am also asking anyone else who may be in touch with them to urgently point out that their journals will be deleted on October 31st. Will copy this to Magic Smoke. Should any of the people concerned read this, please leave a note with your new URL. Thanks.

ceilisundancer / Robin / http://journals.aol.com/ceilisundancer/RandomThreads/
irisheyes1929 / Kellen / http://journals.aol.com/irisheyes1929/FaithinRomanCatholicism/
wildautumn1 / ? / http://journals.aol.com/wildautumn1/this-is-really-me
ninareade / Nina / http://journals.aol.com/ninareade/overtaken-by-snails-life-in-the-/
rebuketheworld / Raven / http://journals.aol.com/rebuketheworld/RebukeTheWorld/
cgtperkins / Carrie / http://journals.aol.com/cgtperkins/daybyday
cottoncandie / Mary Alice / http://journals.aol.com/cottoncandi12306/ThisiswhoIam
sunshines612392 / Sam / http://journals.aol.co.uk/sunshines612392/wifemotherstudentmentalhealthnur
sylviam4000 / Sylvia / http://journals.aol.co.uk/sylviam4000/YeOldeEnglishPosy
ljat1 / Linda / http://journals.aol.com/ljat1/fridays-child/
pookyluvsu / Angela / http://journals.aol.com/pookyluvsu/BehindHazelEyes/
andie5987 / Andrea / http://journals.aol.com/andie5987/MyLife/
bowyerlori / Lori / http://journals.aol.co.uk/bowyerlori/broken/
rayne1123 / Noelle / http://journals.aol.com/rayne1123/ThewaysofRayne
katie39041 / Katie / http://journals.aol.co.uk/katie39041/KATIESDIARY
jan3145 / Jan / http://journals.aol.com/jan3145/LivingwPulmonaryFibrosis

Transferring journals

I've got Northern Trip migrated to Blogger, but Blogger cannot seem to publish my posts. Any attempt to do so results in a 502 Server Error. Seems I'm going to manually publish four thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight posts one by one. See you in 2011...

Meanwhile, the gale that we are being promised is beginning to materialise. Winds are now up to 30 mph (a gale is anything over 40) and likely to grow stronger. Did I mention about the tropical depression in the Gulf of Aden? Started life in the Bay of Bengal 1 or 2 weeks ago, crossed over India and is now headed for Yemen. Will give that place some much-needed rain.

Not under command


The above screenshot shows the area of sea between Lewis and the Scottish mainland. The ship, highlighted by the yellow information box, is marked as Not Under Command. The Mekhanik Semakov suffered engine failure earlier today some 2.6 miles off the Isle of Skye. Although repairs were tried, they were unsuccessful. The vessel meanwhile was drifting towards shore, so the Coastguard tug Anglian Prince took the ship under tow. As the above map shows, the combination is currently off the Shiant Isles, and is headed for Broad Bay, northeast of Stornoway, where they are expected to arrive later tonight.

A picture of the ship can be viewed here.

Wednesday 22 October

Quite variable weather in the islands today, one moment (like now), the sun is out with dazzling brightness, next moment the mamma of all showers comes clattering through. Autumn is firmly here. Temperatures are a bit better than yesterday at any rate, that was an Arctic blast and no mistake.

The root cause of the credit crunch has finally been identified as a bounced cheque for $16. Listen to the whole story on the Onion. The other root cause is of course a five-letter word: GREED.