"Tis the season to be grumpy"

Edinburgh, and the start of the festival.

At this time of year it is easy to differentiate between residents and tourist; the locals walk around with outstretched hands to fend off the thousands of eager students handing out flyers for restaurants and comedy shows, whilst the tourists wander around looking slightly bemused at the myriad weirdos and performers on the streets.

It's certainly cosmopolitan and exciting - I'd recommend it to any Blippers.

This morning was a watershed: after 141,000 faithful miles, for the first time ever I had to spend some money on my Honda. A new exhaust system. This vehicle has been all over Europe, through huge snow-drifts, up hill and down dale, over rivers and Auld Reekie's potholed streets. What a marvellous piece of Japanese engineering.