Preppies, a Sheltie and sharpened knives.

Grey but mild and calm this morning. This is good news for the NBC television crews who are out bright and early filming the players in the collegiate championship. Being stuck a hundred feet up in the air when its blowing a gale can't be much fun.

A small crowd is standing on the Jubilee Course watching the Berkeley team. They clap politely whenever a shot is sunk. The St Andrews youngsters are dressed for the weather. The Princeton, Michigan and Berkeley teams all have team outfits of varying practical and sartorial elegance. Of these Princeton, with their white beanie hats and blazers, have a decidedly 1980's 'Party like its 1978' preppy vibe.

A Sheltie wanders over to observe what's going on. It settles on the side of the path by the camera crew to get a better view. It's there when we go and there when we come back. It has clearly decided to make a day of it. Two men on a golf cart arrive with bacon rolls for the cameramen. The Sheltie moves closer. As all dogs instinctively know good things come to those who wait.

The youngsters will be allowed to play the Old Course for the finals. This morning the early rounds on the sacred turf  are the preserve of some gentlemen from an insurance company. From the logos on their caps we think they may be bigwigs from Mutual of Omaha. Their underwriting business in Scotland must be close to  non-existent so they're presumably tournament sponsors. The insurance folk seem determined to enjoy themselves. A bored looking young woman with a camera is there to capture their circuit of the course. She looks underwhelmed.

'The Font' used to have the kitchen knives sharpened by a chef at one of the better local restaurants. The chef has been lured away to a new position in Edinburgh and the replacement doesn't appear to know what a knife is has no interest in knife sharpening. After a quick Google search a new 'pick it up and deliver it back' service is tried. They courier a safety pack for the knives. When ready this is picked up by an authorized courier (  the government has tight regulations on shipping knives in the nail ) who take it to the grinding centre. Then two days later the knives ( suitably wrapped and sharpened ) are delivered back to us. In total it took four days and 'The Font' seems to be delighted with the service. https://bladeandbutler.co.uk/  This is not something I'd expected to find online.

The pros and cons of fibre in your diet :https://www.acsh.org/news/2025/10/13/fiber-debate-could-skipping-it-be-health-hack-49766

This seems pretty profound :https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/scientists-found-that-memory-can-happen-outside-the-brain/

AI is coming. This eassay by one of the industry leaders is unusually candid and insightful :https://importai.substack.com/p/import-ai-431-technological-optimism

Norway :https://bowofodysseus.substack.com/p/norway-1906

Norway by boat. This seemed like a good idea when booked in high summer. In preparation we're off for our Covid jabs this afternoon  :https://youtu.be/6Io-HNfZvPo?t=697