A trip down memory lane? More like a wander through the hinterland of a lifetime!

This morning, I finally set up the film scanner which my brother lent me a couple of months ago. I have been meaning to do this – for a couple of months – but somehow I only just managed to do it today.

I was looking to scan a specific photograph, taken more than fifteen years ago. For the last few years, I have taken mostly (though not exclusively) colour negatives, but I before that, I took mostly black and white photographs, and I have four albums of negatives going back to when I first got a camera – which is a long, long time ago.

So to find the picture I was lloking for, I had to flick through lots of negatives. There are negatives of people I haven’t seen – haven’t even thought about – for many, many years.

For each film I looked at, I could remember who, where and why; aside from a large number of random mountains.

A fascinating case of photographic archaeology.

A trip down memory lane? More like a wander through the hinterland of a lifetime!

This morning, I finally set up the film scanner which my brother lent me a couple of months ago. I have been meaning to do this – for a couple of months – but somehow I only just managed to do it today.

I was looking to scan a specific photograph, taken more than fifteen years ago. For the last few years, I have taken mostly (though not exclusively) colour negatives, but I before that, I took mostly black and white photographs, and I have four albums of negatives going back to when I first got a camera – which is a long, long time ago.

So to find the picture I was lloking for, I had to flick through lots of negatives. There are negatives of people I haven’t seen – haven’t even thought about – for many, many years.

For each film I looked at, I could remember who, where and why; aside from a large number of random mountains.

A fascinating case of photographic archaeology.

Car Hire Fun

Twice in the past few weeks I have needed to hire a car; I used the same firm both times – the first because it worked out cheapest when I was looking around, the second because I was too lazy to look anywhere else.

The first time I booked a petrol-engined car the size of a Focus or Astra; what I got (when I turned down the automatic turbo SAAB they tried to get me to drive) was a four-wheel drive diesel-engined tank. It was huge, sat high in the road and although it handled well, it was a real pain to park. I had never driven a diesel before, so I lived in fear of filling it with petrol by mistake.

The second time I was going away by myself, so I just wanted a small car. I ordered something the size of Corsa; what I got (after I turned the automatic they tried to get me to drive) was a Ka. It was small. It went ok, but it felt small. (Probably because it was.) It also had a cassette player rather than CD, which I found very strange; I had to dig out some old CDs (which meant I was listening to old bootlegs of Elvis Costello and Oasis; fun, but not what I was expecting!).

After both hires, they asked me how satisfied I was with their service. So I said the cars were fine, but I was disappointed because on neither occasion did I get the car I was expecting. I also expressed surprise at them trying to fob me off with an automatic both times.

And both times they gave me a discount voucher – once for an upgrade, once for 15%.

As a result of this, I think I shall try and find something wrong whenever I rent a car from them!

Car Hire Fun

Twice in the past few weeks I have needed to hire a car; I used the same firm both times – the first because it worked out cheapest when I was looking around, the second because I was too lazy to look anywhere else.

The first time I booked a petrol-engined car the size of a Focus or Astra; what I got (when I turned down the automatic turbo SAAB they tried to get me to drive) was a four-wheel drive diesel-engined tank. It was huge, sat high in the road and although it handled well, it was a real pain to park. I had never driven a diesel before, so I lived in fear of filling it with petrol by mistake.

The second time I was going away by myself, so I just wanted a small car. I ordered something the size of Corsa; what I got (after I turned the automatic they tried to get me to drive) was a Ka. It was small. It went ok, but it felt small. (Probably because it was.) It also had a cassette player rather than CD, which I found very strange; I had to dig out some old CDs (which meant I was listening to old bootlegs of Elvis Costello and Oasis; fun, but not what I was expecting!).

After both hires, they asked me how satisfied I was with their service. So I said the cars were fine, but I was disappointed because on neither occasion did I get the car I was expecting. I also expressed surprise at them trying to fob me off with an automatic both times.

And both times they gave me a discount voucher – once for an upgrade, once for 15%.

As a result of this, I think I shall try and find something wrong whenever I rent a car from them!

Adam Elsheimer Exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland

( After a long coffee and conversation with a former colleague, I went to one of the festival exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland. )

Adam Elsheimer Exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland

( After a long coffee and conversation with a former colleague, I went to one of the festival exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland. )