A petrol shortage and melted Easter eggs.

Both the towns filling stations have sold out of petrol. We first hear the news from the policemans wife at the check-out counter in the supermarket. Within half an hour the farmer is at the front door to tell us. He puts it down to panic buying. Fresh deliveries are expected this afternoon. This is the first time the war in the Gulf has made itself felt in a direct way. The little hybrid BMW might , after all, prove to be a sensible purchase.  We're left wondering if our flight to Shanghai in two weeks time will still go. Times are changing.

Saturday morning dawns bright and fair. Some holiday makers have been partying on the beach and half a dozen broken beer bottles litter the sand. The lady with the Pomeranian picks up her dog and carries it well away from danger.

The roadworks on the street outside the book store were supposed to be finished on Friday. They weren't.  A large, deep hole ( and a correspondingly large pile of excavated earth ) remain. The hole is near the trendy cafe that's popular with 'hip' students. Green railings have been put up to stop any teenagers falling in and injuring themselves.

The three large Easter eggs that were in the bakers window have gone. Seems the sunshine earlier in the week was too much for them and they , according to the young man behind the counter, 'softened and deformed'. This is an unusual way of saying they melted. Tomorrow I shall ask him what became of them. 

The four golf courses are already busy. No sign of any Congressmen or Senators but it's still early.

Two enterprising students have got themselves qualified as caddies and are out advising players new to St Andrews on what clubs to use. The student caddies dress for comfort and shout out 'brilliant shot' every so often in an ego massaging tone of voice. What a clever way to ensure the end of match gratuity is 'maximized '. These commercial skill sets learnt on the golf course will be useful in later life.

Positive thinking :https://miniphilosophy.substack.com/p/getting-out-of-bed-and-turning-up

Easter in Malaga with the Spanish Foreign Legion. This most certainly isn't Presbyterian Scotland :https://youtu.be/-JeWzighvfs?t=100

Modern childhood is changing :https://bigthink.com/mind-behavior/the-quiet-disappearance-of-the-free-range-childhood/

People stopped being happy in 2020 :https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6465460

Towards a world of monosyllabic grunts :https://www.jezebel.com/speech-decline-in-words-humans-speak-per-day-year-loneliness-epidemic-friendship-recession-pandemic-phones

A French ambassador marks an anniversary 86 years ago :https://x.com/EmmanuelMignot2/status/2040320557590237198