Counting chickens

Firstly, congratulations to Iain on passing his test on Thursday. That made it a very balanced week, as far as tests are concerned; one pass, one fail and one cancellation (see previous posts). Another six tests to go before xmas; one in Elgin, one in Inverness and three in Ullapool.
Nothing in particular I wanted to write about today, just abstract ramblings, but, if you have read my blog before, you should be used to that by now.
Once again, I am over in Ullapool, with the bright wintery sun casting long shadows over the golden scenery and the shimmering Loch Broom. The snowline has descended, meaning many more hills and mountains are capped with the white stuff, but it is still pleasant enough to be able to have the windows open at times.
I was chatting with the landlady of Creagan House, which is my B&B of choice whenever I am here. When I told her that I live over near Brodie and Forres, she said “Och, it’s lovely over there.” “Yes, it is,” I replied “but I prefer it over here.” “Really? Perhaps we should swap.” She suggested. “Be careful. I may take you up on that.”
It’s funny how much you take where you live for granted. Some of my pupils love Ullapool, but others can’t wait to move away. I remember my friend, Bearde, his girlfriend, Jane, and me staying with friends in New Jersey for a couple of weeks. The first day there, they asked us what we wanted to do. We wanted to go into Manhattan (15 - 20 miles away) and see the sights, so we told them that we would like to go up the Empire State building. “That’s a great idea. We’ve never done that.” It seemed incredible to us that they lived in view of the Empire State, yet had never been up it.
Just waiting for my next lesson, with Laura. She is not taking things for granted. She lives up in Lochinver, 37 miles north of Ullapool. Not only does her mum or dad have to do a 74 mile round trip for her driving lessons, but she has to do the same journey (by bus) every morning/afternoon for school. Hard to imagine isn’t it? I had to travel five miles by bus/coach to get to my schools, which I thought was long enough, but 37 miles would have been an expedition. Having said that, I often used to hurriedly try and do my homework whilst on the morning bus to school. With a 37 mile trip, I could have got all my homework done.

Finally, to continue with the theme of taking things for granted, I am amazed how, as a result of the draw for the 2010 World Cup, England are joint-favourites with some bookies. I’m English, so of course I want England to do well, but surely we are being premature in our celebrations? If Algeria, Slovenia and the USA needed any further incentive to beat us, our reaction to the draw has surely given it to them. I have nothing against Emile Heskey, but, if Wayne Rooney does ok at Manchester without a Heskey-type partner, then surely Jemaine Defoe would be a better bet as his partner for England. Or maybe we should recall Robbie Fowler….. now there was a striker.

(Postscript: A few hours after writing this, Jermaine Defoe missed an awful penalty. D'Oh!)